su % 
oe 
H2% 


GETS 
ese 
Aree 


RAT INE Ce 
abe? ESATA 
Tot 
ee { Rhee hae f: 


5 eous 
ae ties 
“ OG (ALY 
IAG 


tiie. 
aK cg Sateen 
a So ree 


a 7 


4 
Pree 
ers 
eo) 


vest, 
on 


* 


chia! eUN 


Hoe? 
SANS 


“a 


£ 


~, 





a 


LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 


PRINCETON. N. J. 





PURCHASED BY THE HAMILL MISSIONARY FUND. 


7 A AOE if ste “ 
y Zc 2 \) . . ra 
— 9 ~ 
lan a mt y Tal L = nt - 
y f ¥ i | 1} ~~ 
Bm wks 7 be ? OY ck. aks des ot 
AOk I oN “ee 
a VW e 
rs | gee £ A 
M 1ra eS > J: DRA Re ECUL Vit 


i bale i 
ek 
a Whe He 


rand , 


mea yl ik if 


nthe 


May MRO 


i wah 








7 


Aa ib Foy’ 


ee fa fe, By 
ey a 4 
Rater] Udd a iy 
* * - 

An a 








— Ye) 4 








Miracles of Modern Missions 





Painting by Calette 


MIGHTY TO SAVE 


‘* All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.” “ Lo, J am with you 
alway, even unto the end of the world.’”’ Matt. 28:18, 20. 
4 


oe 


AAA 
} vj A 


\V/ 





MIRACLES 
of 
MODERN MISSIONS 


Gathered Out of the Mission Records 


wa 


By William Iieainee 


“ How great are His signs! and how mighty 
are His wonders! His kingdom is an ever- 
lasting kingdom, and His dominion is from 
generation to generation.” Dan. 4:3. 


REVIEW AND HERALD PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION 
TAKOMA Park, WASHINGTON, D. C., 
South Bend, Ind. Peekskill, N. Y. 
Printed in the U. S. A. 





A , : 
tg Fash = 
” J Ne Dap 7 we ’ ; i r 
wt tae “% < 
; 4 ee iy , Mi ' ats @ 
ate f ee 
. 4 =f é Wiis 
* Hips WO viteie ‘ ye 
’ Cor . C 
a ¥. ‘ 
v7 i’ 
g- A , 
f og ie 
~ ; on ou 
’ } Rh : 
: ee 
‘ , eet AG 
¥ tk Veal 
v, 
A 
4 “ 
* v* 
' 
3 
: 





-Coprighted, 1926, by the _ 
Review and Herald Publishing Association 





Ail Rights Reserved - 


Pl ' 
' 
t 
2 / Ji * 
2 ; = ; 
aah! - ph t “a 
w us h 
' * 
o/ vos j >? ans 
‘ ’ J 
= ' { ; 
na ws « ° aT P 
i 
‘ , OY Neat Yeon | dea 
‘ a ls 


; Wt ket , 
oN 9 al 
ve ke a a 
4 ¥, om! fj a ¥ 
, e * 4 _ / airy 








“Come Unto Me” 


“ Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together.” ‘‘ Look unto Me, and be 
ye saved, all the ends of the earth.” Isa. 45: 20, 22. 


The Goodness of the Lord 


O GIVE thanks unto the Lord, for He is good: 

For His mercy endureth forever. 

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, 

Whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; 
And gathered them out of the lands, 

From the east, and from the west, 

From the north, and from the south. 

They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; 
They found no city to dwell in. 

Hungry and thirsty, 

Their soul fainted in them. 

Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, 

And He delivered them out of their distresses. 

And He led them forth by the right way, 

That they might go to a city of habitation. 

O that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, 
And for His wonderful works to the children of men! 


MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


For He satisfieth the longing soul, 

And filleth the hungry soul with goodness. 

He sent His word, and healed them, 

And delivered them from their destructions. 

Let them exalt Him also in the congregation of the people, 
And praise Him in the assembly of the elders. 

He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, 

And dry ground into watersprings. 

And there He maketh the hungry to dwell, 

That they may prepare a city for habitation; 

And sow the fields, and plant vineyards, 

Which may yield fruits of increase. 

The righteous shall see it, and rejoice; 

And all iniquity shall stop her mouth. 

Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, 

Even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord. 


— From Psalm 107. 


Contents 


A New Book oF Acts - - 
“In JOURNEYINGS”’ TO THE FIELD 
By AUDIBLE VOICE - 7 - 
THE FooTrRINTS OF ANGELS - - 


MAN or ANGEL — IT Matters Not WHuicH 


THe RESTRAINING HAND - - 
THE ELEMENTS OVERRULED - 
“IN THE WILDERNESS ” - - 
SUPPLIED IN TIME OF NEED 2 
MEETINGS PROVIDENTIALLY ARRANGED 
INSTRUCTED BY DREAM - - 
“IN PERILS OF ROBBERS ” - - 
ATTACKERS FOILED - - - 
STRICKEN WITH FEAR - - - 
DELIVERED FROM CAPTIVITY - 
PROTECTION FRoM ANIMALS 
TIMELY DELIVERERS- - - - 
THE CHANGED PURPOSE - - - 
ON THE WINGS OF THE WIND - 

ON THE WATERS~ - - - - 
On Op Inp1an TRAILS : : 
UNDER THE PROMISE - - - 
CovERED AND HIppEN - - 
UsELEss \WEAPONS - - - 
FAITHFUL STEWARDSHIP HONORED 
HEALING AS A SIGN ~ - - 
STORIES OF CHILDREN - - 
AMIDST THE CONVULSIONS OF NATURE 


11 
I 
aie 
30 
62 
69 
90 
101 
110 
hea 
133 
bs 
158 
165 
173 
183 
193 
201 
AV 


PONE 


tot bel tad 


eon 
242 
eke, 
261 
271 
288 
209 
309 


PETER DELIVERED FROM PRISON 


“Ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, 


and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Acts 1: 8. 
10 





A New Book of Acts 


THE translators have divided the Book of Acts into twenty- 
eight chapters. As many chapters for a new Book of Acts 
might be compiled from the story of modern missions. 


AT PENTECOST 


The old Book of Acts records the amazement of the multi- 
tude of various nationalities gathered at Jerusalem on the day 
of Pentecost, as they heard the apostles speaking with tongues, 
telling “the wonderful works of God.” 

“Are not all these which speak Galileans?” the hearers 
exclaimed one to another, ‘and how hear we every man in our 
own tongue, wherein we were born?” 


Sig 


‘© FOR A THOUSAND TONGUES! ” 

The various nationalities listed as present at Jerusalem on 
that Pentecost might possibly have represented, say, forty or 
sixty spoken languages. Today the Bible societies list eight 
hundred tongues in which Scripture portions are repeating the 
story of “the wonderful works of God.” In the onward sweep 
of world missions, with new languages added year by year, it 
will not be long now until a thousand tongues will be speaking 
the words of life. In a way the old hymn writer never antici- 
pated, his prayer will be answered: 

“O for a thousand tongues, to sing 
My great Redeemer’s praise!” 
And wherever the words of Holy Scripture go, the story of 
the Book of Acts is being continued. 

At the close of his Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, 
Dr. Adam Clarke placed this note: 

“The Book of Acts is not only a history of the church, the 


most ancient and most impartial, as it is the most authentic 
extant; but it is also a history of God’s grace and providence.” 


11 


13 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


Open the Book of Acts, and what do we find? We find 
men and women of ordinary natural gifts going out to tell the 
message of salvation. What else do we see? We see angels 
of God going with them. The risen Christ, in glory, is watch- 
ing over His servants on earth, fulfilling the parting promise, 
“Lo, I am with you alway.” By the ministry of angels He 
euides and directs and intervenes. The Holy Spirit speaks to 
inquirers, angels bear messages to men in dreams of the night, 
or by voice of entreaty or warning heard in the soul. There 
is constant connection between heaven and earth in the Book 
of Acts. The living God was actually doing things on earth. 
And so it is in these modern chapters of the new Book of Acts. 


THE FINGER OF GOD 
These interventions of the hand of Providence do not appear 
merely as displays of supernatural power. They come into the 
mission experiences in a divinely natural way, to bear their 
witness under circumstances that seem particularly to call for 
something more than ordinary. One veteran of the East Indies, 
Joh. Warneck, says in his “ Living Forces of the Gospel: ”’ 


“The finger of God is more visibly and more frequently seen 
in the mission fields. of heathenism, warning the ignorant that 
now is the day of salvation, than it is in Christendom. 
Foreign missions today are not necessarily accompanied by 
manifold wonders, as in the days of the apostles, because there 
are other means of gaining the attention of the heathen. But 
the marks of God’s mighty presence are plainly perceptible in 
mission work today. God sometimes condescends to show the 
helplessness of their own gods and His own power to the 
heathen who know Him not. He sometimes condescends to 
punish blasphemers, to accompany with His blessing remedies 
given by His messengers in great weakness, to answer the stam- 
mering prayers of those who would like to know whether His 
power is with them, and in marvelous ways to preserve His 
servants, 

“The Battak Mission has witnessed many clear interpositions 
of God, especially in its first days. The missionaries were 
several times preserved from attempts on their lives. They have 
taken poison without injury, and restraint was put upon their 


e, 


A NEW BOOK OF ACTS 13 


enemies, such as to reveal to Christian and heathen alike the 
finger of God. The Nias Mission has had the same experience, 
especially in the western region. . . . But for such clear proofs 
to the heathen of the divine power, these two provinces could 





Elders E. H. Gates and G. A. Wantzlick, With Their Battak Boys, Padang, Sumatra 


hardly have been held, though in both a rich harvest has been 
gathered in under marvelous conditions. 


“The reader of missionary news will frequently come upon 
instances of such things, reminding him of the experiences of 
Old and New Testament messengers of God. Such experiences 
strengthen the faith of the missionaries and their helpers in their 
many trials, striving with the powers of heathenism, unsupported 
by Christian fellowship. The critic will find it easy to assail 
these acts of God, but they are precious to those who experience 


14 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


them,— mission workers, Christians, and heathen,— and they 
produce blessed and permanent results.” 


BEYOND HUMAN RANGE 


The stories of special providence come often from the re- 
motest parts. No region is beyond the circuit of Heaven’s 
watchful care. Away beyond the present range of missionary 





Missionary Launch “ Eran ” 
Used by C. H. Parker, superintendent of the New Hebrides 


endeavor, the Holy Spirit is evidently at work, turning hearts 
toward light, and preparing the highways for the advancing line 
of missions. Far beyond our ken, we may well know, this work 
by direct divine agencies is continually going forward. As the 
author of ‘“ Lead, Kindly Light,” wrote: 


‘** Mid Balak’s magic fires 
The Spirit spake, clear as in Israel ; 


With prayers untrue and covetous desires 
Did God vouchsafe to dwell; 


Who summoned dreams, His earlier word to bring 
To patient Job’s vexed friends, and Gerar’s guileless king. 


¢ e e ° e 


A NEW BOOK OF ACTS 1 


Why should we fear the Son now lacks His place 
Where roams unchristened man? 

As though where faith is keen, He cannot make 

Bread of the very stones, or thirst with ashes slake.” 


Isaiah, the prophet of world evangelization, puts into the 
mouth of the church of the gospel age this prayer that God 
may make bare His arm as in olden times: 


“ Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake 
as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art Thou not 
it that hath cut Rahab [Egypt], and wounded the dragon? 

“ Art Thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of 
the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for 
the ransomed to pass over?” Isa. 51:9, 10. 


And He who made bare His arm in ancient Bible times, 
who is able to make ways where there are no ways, answers 
this prayer with the assurance (to quote Bishop Lowth’s trans- 
lation) : 


“ He marcheth on with speed, who cometh to set free the captive ; 
That he may not die in the dungeon, 
And that his bread may not fail. 
For I am Jehovah thy God; 
He who stilleth at once the sea, though the waves thereof roar; 
Jehovah God of hosts is His name. 
I have put My words in thy mouth; 
And with the shadow of My hand have I covered thee: 
To stretch out the heavens, and to lay the foundations of the earth; 
And to say unto Sion, ‘Thou art My people.’ ” 





© W. L. Haskell 


WILLIAM CAREY 
Pioneer Missionary to India 


16 


“In Journeyings” to the Field 


“Thus saith the Lord, which maketh a way in 
the sea, and a path in the nughty waters.” Isaiah 


43:16. 


BREAKING THE WALL OF ICE 


READERS of the story of early missions will remember the 
brave attempt of Egede, of Denmark, to spread the gospel in 
Greenland. He it was who preceded even the Moravians in 
carrying a burden for remote heathen peoples lying in darkness. 
It was in 1721, after years of prayer and waiting, that the 
Danish pastor and his family sailed from Bergen, Norway. 
Mrs. Egede had delayed the enterprise for years, resolutely 
holding out against the thought of the hardships of such a 
journey. But at last the Spirit of God had convicted her that 
she was holding back the light from those for whom Christ had 
died, and she had turned from her opposition and was aggres- 
sively encouraging her husband to go forward. 

The good ship “‘ Hope,” on which the family were sailing, 
accompanied by another little ship, a galiot, so called, was 
nearing the icy wall of Greenland after four weeks of tossing 
in the northern seas. Now came the greatest peril to the 
voyagers. We follow the story of young Paul Egede, son of 
the pioneer missionary, whose journal is published only in 
German, entitled, “ Nachrichten von Gronland.” 

“It was a hateful and frightful coast,’. Paul wrote, that 
faced the Egede family as they sighted the Greenland shore. 
They were beset with constant stormy winds, preventing their 
turning northward to land. Recent arctic exploration has made 
us familiar with the perils of the Greenland coast, even in this 
day of steamships specially built with strong, ice-breaking hulls. 
The account continues: 

“We were at last compelled to go westward, in order to get 
out of the ice, which the wind and storm dashed against us. 

17 


18 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


“On the 24th we experienced the greatest peril to life. In 
the morning we saw an opening in the ice. The captain asked 
my father if we should venture to go forward into it. He 
answered, “ Yes,’ and the captain, having received his consent, 
went on into the ice (by this opening). 

“ But instead of getting through it, we were in this position 
shut in, so that we had not a cable length of open water. We 
went on with reefed sails, and the storm laid hold upon us. 

“Anxiety and fear were over all. This became the greater 
as the captain, who knew by the signal that the galiot had re- 
ceived injury, sprang into the cabin with fear, and cried to my 
mother and to us children: ‘ Pray to God, and prepare to meet 
death; there is no hope for our lives. The galiot has been struck 
and is sinking.’ ” 

Then it was that the missionary’s courage and faith in God 
took command of the situation. True enough, death seemed 
upon them. The missionary family betook themselves to prayer ; 
but the burden of their prayer was for deliverance from the ring 
of ice in order to reach the people of Greenland with the gospel 
of life. The father labored while he prayed, and went on deck 
encouraging the crew and rebuking the captain for his lack of 
faith. While they worked to save the ship, they prayed to God 
to make a way of deliverance for them through the ice. And 
God heard their prayers. 

“The storm and fog continued all through the day and until 
midnight,” says Paul Egede’s journal. Then the praying toilers 
noticed that the walls of ice were breaking through. God was 
answering their prayers for deliverance from the ring of ice 
that had shut them in. By dawn the little ship was out of the 
encompassing peril and into open water. They bore down upon 
the smaller ship, and found that by continuously pumping, that 
also had been able to weather the storm. After further perils 
endured, the journal says, “The Lord guided us to the land 
for which my father had so earnestly sighed.” 


* 


ret - 


HOW CAREY REACHED INDIA 
The providential hour had struck for the opening of the 
great era of modern missions, Not only was William Carey 


b 


“IN JOURNEYINGS”’ TO THE FIELD 19 


the agent chosen of God for launching the movement of foreign 
missions, but he was to go out to India himself, to be the agent 
of Providence in laying the foundation of a great work on 
which others have built during all this century and more of 
missions. 

So important did it appear in 1792 that Carey should get to 
the field without delay, that he, with a Mr. Thomas, engaged 
passage, even though Mrs. Carey was to be left behind for the 
time being. The passage was secured on an English ship, and 
Carey and Thomas embarked in London. Without a doubt had 
they succeeded in getting fully off on that ship, they would have 
failed to secure permission to land in India, where the East India 
Company wanted no disturbing religious influences. Providence 
overturned Carey’s plans, and sent him by the right way, even 
though the process was so strange it seemed to him as if every- 
thing was working against the missionary undertaking. 

It was the time of the French wars, and Carey’s ship, 
“Earl of Oxford,” after sailing down the Thames and round 
to the south of England, put in to the port of Ryde, Isle of 
Wight, to wait for convoy. Here it was that, through some 
unfortunate misadventures of Mr. Thomas, Carey’s companion, 
it became known that the missionaries were on board. A letter 
reached the captain, telling him that he might be brought into 
serious trouble with the East India Company if he ventured to 
take a missionary to India. Frightened, the captain gave orders 
canceling the passages, and Carey and Thomas were put ashore 
with their baggage. Ina recent book entitled, “‘ William Carey,” 
F. Deaville Walker tells how God overruled it all to His glory, 
and sent Carey to India by the very way that Providence had 
in reserve for the pioneering venture, out of which was to come 
so great a world movement. Mr. Walker says of Carey’s feel- 
ings as he was ordered ashore: 

“Carey was moved to tears at this overthrow of all his 
cherished hopes. But the captain was resolute, and there was 


nothing left for them but to remove their baggage from the 
‘Oxford,’ and store it as best they could, 


20 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


“As they watched the ship leave the anchorage and sail 
away in company with four other vessels, Carey’s heart must 
have been well-nigh breaking. It was mid-May, and there was 
very little hope of getting another ship that season. With a 
heavy heart, but still undaunted, Carey wrote to Fuller of the 
trouble they were involved in, adding: “All I can say in this 
affair is that, however mysterious the leadings of Providence 
are, | have no doubt but they are superintended by an infinitely 
wise God.’ 

“And he was right. Never for a moment did his faith 
waver. Though sorely perplexed, he was undismayed. The 
conviction that God had called him strengthened him in that 
dark hour. 

“Leaving the baggage at Portsmouth, the missionaries took 
coach for London. Carey’s first idea was to go boldly to the 
East India Company and seek their permission to go to India, 
trusting God to move their hearts to grant it. Another idea was 
to attempt to reach India overland. He desired, however, to 
consult his trusted friends. In reality there was little hope of 
the company’s yielding, for at that very time they were harden- 
ing their hearts on this subject. 

“On reaching the city, Thomas, with his usual resourceful- 
ness, and realizing that it was through him that Carey had been 
refused a passage, went to a coffeehouse, with the faint hope 
of hearing of some ship of other than British nationality, and 
therefore not under the control of the East India Company — 
perchance a Swedish or a Danish merchantman. Overhearing 
his questions, a waiter slipped into Thomas’ hand a card on 
which he read and reread the words: 


““A Daniso East INDIAMAN 
No. 10 Cannon St.’ 

“Hardly daring to believe his eyes, Thomas ‘ fled ’— that 
is the word he uses —to No. 10 Cannon Street, and learned 
that the ‘Kron Princessa Maria’ was even then on her way 
from Copenhagen, and was hourly expected in the Dover roads.” 

Now Carey saw the intervening hand of Providence in the 
overturning of his plans. Declaring himself “ convinced that 
God was opening a door before him,” he made one more effort 
to get his wife to go out with him. Her reluctance was over- 
come, funds were provided, and by strenuous exertion, in those 


“IN JOURNEYINGS”’ TO THE FIELD 21 


days of coach transportation, the missionary party got off from 
Dover by the Danish boat, the foreign ship being the very means 
of insuring that Carey should be able to get into the field despite 
the watchfulness of the hostile East India Company. 


‘* MASTER ON TOP, HE STRONG” 
Thus, in the pidgin English of the New Hebrides, the island- 
ers of Malekula declared their conviction that the invisible arm 
of the Master was stretched forth in power to right an over- 





New Hebrides Fleet 
Little boats in which missionaries hazard their lives in the New Hebrides 


turned ship, and deliver the missionary and his island crew. 
When an old chief first heard one of the boys telling how the 
ship, with mast and rigging under water, had been lifted up and 
set upright, he said, “ No, that cannot be true; such a thing 
never could be.” But when all the facts were told, the islanders 
agreed that the “ Master on top, He strong.” 

The story was told by Missionary J. D. Anderson, of the 
Australasian Seventh-day Adventist missions in the New Heb- 
rides. The missionary, with a crew of six boys of Malekula, 
was on a 260-mile journey to meet the steamer at Tulagi, and 
return to his station. His report of the outward journey, taken 
from the Australasian Record, continues: 


MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


bo 
IN 


“ After a very pleasant run of five hours, a heavy storm 
broke upon us just as we were about to enter an opening in one 
of the reefs to anchor fora short time. The wind blew fiercely, 
and the rain was so heavy that we were unable to see any more 
than the length of the boat. Charlie, my native helper, who has 
had much experience with boats, was acting as captain, and gave 
orders to put to sea. I immediately went to the engine, and 
being assured that all was well there, I came on deck, but at once 
felt that we were in danger, so again disappeared below to place 
the position before the Lord. 

“Up to this time we had been steering by the land, but while 
I was on my knees, almost audible words said to me, ‘ Get out 
your compass.’ This I did, and found we were going straight 
for the reef; so we put to sea. After about half an hour the 
storm lifted, and we were able to get in through the reef to a 
safe anchorage, and just in time, for a heavier storm came on, 
and continued all the afternoon and well into the night. 

“Next morning early we left again, with fine weather, and 
by 10:30 a. M. came to a place from which, in fine weather, 
we leave the Malaita coast for Gala. Everything seemed to be 
in our favor, so we decided to make the run. After an hour’s 
run a southeast wind sprang up, and grew stronger and stronger. 
At 2 p. M. we battened our little boat down, and from then on 
for six hours the deck was almost incessantly awash. 

“How thankful I felt that the people of Australasia had 
made it possible for us to have such a seaworthy boat under 
the conditions in which we found ourselves! ” 


ee SEE 


To shorten the account, Gala was reached, and then the next 
day Tulagi, where the steamer was met. After the week-end 
at Tulagi, the homeward run was begun. Storm-bound at Sioto, 
on Wednesday morning they were again at sea, with fair 
weather prospects. That homeward voyage, with the deliver- 
ances that put awe and thanksgiving into their hearts, is thus 
described by Missionary Anderson: 

“By 7:30 the wind again arose, and it was not very long 
before we were in a heavy sea. Up to this time the engine had 
been running nicely, and our sails were folded. A voice seemed 
to say, “ Put up your sails.’ But I felt that it was safer to run 


along under engine power. Almost immediately the words again 
came, “ The engine is going to give out, so you will have to put 


“IN JOURNEYINGS’”’ TO THE FIELD Zo 


up the sails.’ Scarcely had 
these words been spoken 
when a small piece in the 
engine broke, so I gave or- 
ders to set sail and run with 
the storm. 

“This done, we were 
going along at a fair speed 
when the thought came to 
me, ‘ What would you do if 
the boat went over?’ Then 
a voice seemed to say again, 
“You are going to turn 
over, but angels will lift the 
boat up, and you will speak, 
and the waves will be calm.’ 
I said in prayer, ‘O Lord, 
it is too much.’ But again 
the voice said, ‘Why be 
afraid? The angels will 
help you, and this will take 
place to show the boys that 
the God whom you serve is 
able to deliver.’ I again 
said in prayer, ‘Thy will 
be done, O Lord, not mine.’ 

“We had not proceeded 
far when two large waves 
came. Charlie was holding 
the main sail and instruct- 





ing two other boys who Peo 
2 A baptized native teacher in the 
were holding the helm. The pec gay CaLCeCne 


little boat was turned to 

meet the first wave all right, but was not able to right herself 
again before the second wave caught her and seemed to stand 
her almost mast downward. All hands on deck were thrown 
into the sea. At the time, I was standing in the cabin with my 
head out, but was thrown headlong into the water. I cannot 
recollect what happened to me then, but I do know that, al- 
though the worst swimmer of all, I was the first on deck. 
When I did recollect myself, I was sitting on the side of 
the boat. 


24 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


WHAT HE SAID 


‘As I sat there, the boat began in a miraculous way to right 
herself, notwithstanding the fact that everything was against 
her. Everything inside the boat was thrown to one side, and 
some of the boys were hanging on to the sunken side. One boy 
came up on the boom as the boat came up. As she righted, I 
remembered the words spoken to me regarding the waves,— 
‘You will speak, and the waves will be calm,’— so I prayed and 
lifted up my hand to God, which was noticed by some of the 
boys; and for about fifty yards back from the boat the water 
appeared as smooth as a pool, nor did any waves of any size 
reach us again until we had everything righted and were well 
under sail. 

“Charlie and I went into the cabin and thanked the Lord 
for the wonderful deliverance. The other five boys, who had 
never shown any interest in things of God, were astonished. 
On arriving at a safe anchorage, they could not talk quickly 
enough about it. They said, ‘Truly your Chief is strong. If 
this had been any other boat, we would have all been drowned 
today.’ We had been from fifteen to twenty miles from land 
at the time. 

“As the wind died down for only a few hours each night, 
we were able to do only short runs for the following three days, 
but eventually arrived home without any further exciting in- 
cident. 

“On reaching their homes the boys related their experiences 
during the trip, but many of the old folks would not believe what 
was told them. So I was called to the island where they lived, 
as an authority, and there asked to relate everything,— what was 
spoken to me before the accident, and everything that occurred 
at that time and afterward. If I forgot anything, the boys 
would prompt me, and when I was through they said, ‘ True, 
it was this Master up on top that helped us.’ Most of the old 
folks then also said, ‘ Master above, He strong, first time He 
win him.’ 

“An old sea captain who has weathered many a storm and 
to whom I related the incident, exclaimed, ‘ How ever did the - 
boat right itself?’ 

“All who were with us seemed to be very favorably. im- 
pressed. Continue to pray for us, for we are up against the 
very devil himself here.” 


“IN JOURNEYINGS’’ TO THE FIELD fs 


Amid the dashing spray that swept the deck in the Adriatic 
Sea of old, an angel stood, saying to the apostle Paul, “ Fear 
not.” The same angels are with the missionaries today. 


SUDDEN PERIL AT THE JOURNEY’S END 
Any one who has ever seen those heavy transport wagons 
of the African veld country knows what a chariot of destruction 
one of them would be if set rolling down a hill. One of the 





Seen 


Traveling in South Africa 


Eleven yoke of oxen pulling the boat out of the river for a two-mile 
land trip around Gonyi Falls 


pioneer missionaries of South Africa, G. S. Thomas, told how 
he saw destruction turned aside by the hand of Providence as 
he and his wife sent up instant cry to God. It was in 1857, 
as they were journeying to their station in the Kafirland moun- 
tains. The story is told in the old volume, “The Missionary 
World Encyclopedia.” Mr. Thomas says: 

“Toward the close of the journey we experienced a most 
merciful interposition of divine Providence. We had arrived 
within about six miles of the station, and were come to the bottom 


of a steep hill, so steep that one team of oxen was unable to pull 
the wagon to the top. We therefore took the team out of the 





© W. L. Haskell 


J. HUDSON TAYLOR 
For Many Years Superintendent of the China Inland Mission 


26 


“IN JOURNEYINGS”’ TO THE FIELD 27 


other wagon, in which were my dear wife and child, and having 
fastened these in front of the other team, the word was given, 
“Trek! trek!’ and the wagon soon began to ascend the hill; 
when suddenly, just as we gained the summit, the trek-tow, 
or that by which the oxen were attached to the wagon, broke, 
and in an instant it began to descend the hill with fearful velocity 
toward the other wagon. All were panic-stricken, but nothing 
could be done to save either the wagon or my wife and child. 
She saw the danger with horror, but there was no time to escape; 
she had merely time to clasp the babe to her bosom and cry, 
‘Lord, save us!’ And He did save; for just as it got within 
a yard of the two oxen still attached to the pole, without any 
apparent cause, it turned suddenly round along the side of the 
hill and stopped of itself, without sustaining the least injury or 
injuring anything else. Had it turned to the other side, it 
would have fallen over a precipice two or three hundred feet 
deep. To our God alone we ascribe the praise.” 


THE STORM COULD NOT HINDER 


The work of J. Hudson Taylor for China forms a striking 
chapter in the book of modern missions. The Lord called him 
as one of the pioneering agents for the time of China’s opening. 
He was the founder of the China Inland Mission, one of the 
most aggressive of missions. In his little book, “‘ A Retrospect,” 
Mr. Taylor tells of a providence as he embarked the first time 
from Liverpool for China, in 1853. He says: 


“We had scarcely left the Mersey when a violent equinoctial 
gale caught us, and for twelve days we were beating backward 
and forward in the Irish Channel, unable to get out to sea. 

“The gale steadily increased, and after almost a week we 
lay to for a time; but drifting on a lee coast, we were compelled 
again to make sail, and endeavored to beat off to windward. The 
utmost efforts of the captain and crew, however, were unavail- 
ing; and Sunday night, 25th September, found us drifting into 
Carnarvon Bay, each tack becoming shorter, until at last we 
were within a stone’s throw of the rocks. 

“About this time, as the ship, which had refused to stay, 
was put round in the other direction, the Christian captain said 
to me, ‘ We cannot live half an hour now; what of your call to 
labor for the Lord in China?’ 


28 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


“T had previously passed through a time of much conflict, 
but that was over, and it was a great joy to feel and to tell him 
that I would not for any consideration be in any other position; 
that I strongly expected to reach China; but that if otherwise, 
at any rate the Master would say it was well that I was found 
seeking to obey His command. 

“Within a few minutes after wearing ship, the captain 
walked up to the compass, and said to me, ‘ The wind has freed 
two points ; we shall be able to beat out of the bay!’ And so 
we did.’ 


ON THE OLD ROUTE ROUND THE HORN 


It was in the early missionary times of 1835 that A. W. 
Murray and others, bound for the South Pacific Islands, sailed 
down the Thames from London. They sang the old hymn that 
was sung as the ship “ Duff” carried the London Missionary 
Society’s first missionaries down the Thames on the way to 
Tahiti in 1796, 


“Jesus, at Thy command 
We launch into the deep.” 


It was a stormy deep that Mr. Murray’s party found as they 
essayed to round Cape Horn, the southernmost point of South 
America. It was winter. Again and again the ship was driven 
back. In his “ Forty Years in Polynesia,’ Mr. Murray tells 
how deliverance came: 

“ Matters had well-nigh reached a crisis. Provisions were 
getting very short; there was no hope of a change of wind; 
twice had we doubled the dreadful Cape, and been driven back; 
and the question was being seriously discussed whether we had 
not better change the ship’s course and stand away for the 
Cape of Good Hope; but it was a choice of difficulties. Had 
we adopted that course, we should have had such a distance to 
run that we should in all probability have suffered from a 
scarcity of food and water.” 

They were shut up to look to God. They had agreed that 
instead of the usual Sunday evening service, a prayer meeting 
for deliverance should be held in the main cabin that night. 
The story continues: 


“IN JOURNEYINGS ’”’ TO THE FIELD 29 


“There was a tremendous sea, and our little bark was being 
tossed about apparently at the mercy of the winds and waves, 
now mounting aloft, then descending into the yawning depths, 
and seeming as if at any moment it might be engulfed. 

“But ‘man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.’ Deliverance 
was at hand. lTervent prayer was offered throughout the day, 
but that day closed, as so many before it had done, without any 
change. 

“The hour for the evening service drew on, and we were 
about to meet to carry out the arrangement of the morning. 
But ‘ before they call [ will answer.’ An announcement from 
the deck, such as had not been made for many a day, was heard, 
‘A change of wind!’ ‘ About ship!’ 

“Oh, what a joyful surprise! Our prayers were largely 
turned into praises. The crisis'was past, and from that time 
forward we proceeded on our way without further interruption. 
The storms of Cape Horn were soon left behind, and instead 


we had over us a cloudless sky, and under us the gentle waves 
of the Pacific.” 


‘““UNTO THEIR DESIRED HAVEN ”’ 


Little as the ancients used the sea as a highway, as compared 
with moderns, the psalmist nevertheless leaves on record the 
story of oft-repeated deliverances from the fury of the waves. 
“So He bringeth them unto their desired haven,” says the 107th 
psalm, recognizing that God’s hand was at the helm. It is a 
word of thanksgiving often repeated by the missionaries among 
the island fields of the South Pacific, where one must travel 
constantly by sailboat or launch to visit the stations. Too 
numerous for them to record are the incidents in which these 
missionaries recognize a protecting Providence. 

Here is one story of the Fiji group, told by Missionary 
G. McLaren, of the Seventh-day Adventist Society : 


QUENCHING THE VIOLENCE OF FIRE 


“While sailing from Taveuni to Levuka some time ago in 
our little mission cutter, the ‘ Talai,) we had a remarkable ex- 
perience, and saw the hand of the Lord outstretched to save. 

“It was evening. There was a big swell on the ocean, and 
we were going along with our engine and sails at a fair rate. 


30 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


I told the native boy to fill the benzine tank before it got dark. 
Tomasi opened a case of benzine, and in trying to extract a tin 
from the case, knocked a hole in the tin. Our steering lamp 
was alight on the after part of the deck. The benzine splashed 





Levuka, Fiji 
out of the tin, came in contact with the flame of the hurricane 
lamp, and there was an explosion. Flames shot up twenty feet 
in the air. There were fifteen natives on board. 

“We had a small dinghy that would hold four men at most. 
The natives in their panic rushed to lower the dinghy to get 
away from the burning vessel. I saw that to try to get away 
in the dinghy would mean death to most of us. I asked the 
Lord for help. Then taking hold of the burning case of benzine, 
I lifted it and threw it overboard, burning my arms, 


“IN JOURNEYINGS”’ TO THE FIELD ot 


“The flames on the deck were fast taking hold. One of the 
boys, when he saw the case of benzine put overboard, unlashed 
the fresh water cask, and tipped the water on the fire. This 
caused a greater flare. The flames ran along the deck, and the 
housing of the ship was soon alight. We were helpless. No — 
we were not helpless; the Lord was with us. 

“We offered a quick prayer for help, and suddenly it seemed 
as if a wet blanket was put over the flames, and they were ex- 





The Church and Congregation at Nagqia, Fiji 


tinguished. The decks were just smoldering. We were unable 
to do anything; we had done nothing; the Lord had saved us. 
We realized that the arm of the Lord is not shortened that He 
cannot save. 

“T wish you could have heard the songs of praise and the 
prayers of the native brethren when the flames were extin- 
guished. We were exhausted from the mental strain; but we 
thanked and praised God for deliverance from what seemed to 
be certain death.” 





OU. SVN. y. 
32 


A CHINESE BIBLE WOMAN 


By Audible Voice 


“ Thine cars shall hear a word behind thee, saying, 
This is the way, walk ye init.’ Tsaiah 30: 21. 


THE VOICE IN THE WILDS OF NEW GUINEA 


PERHAPS no one of the missionaries famous as pioneers was 
less given to imagining things than that matter-of-fact Scotsman, 
James Chalmers. But he tells us in his autobiography that he 
surely heard the voice of the Lord speaking to him in the wilds 
of the Fly River district of New Guinea. He had gone into 
this region to search for a place for a mission station, He had 
a remembrance of a favorable spot which he had noted on a 
former visit. Now in his mission cutter he had anchored in 
the mouth of the creek. He says: 

“It was an anxious night, as we did not know how we should 
be fixed in the morning. I did not know the creek, and there 
was only swamp land about, and I wondered where the sandy 
land was that I had seen the year before. We had prayer, and 
I told Maru and his wife to stay by the boat, and that I would 
go and look around. 

“T was very cast down. When walking along, I heard a 
voice very distinctly say to me, ‘ This is the way, walk ye in it.’ 

“IT sat down on a log close by, and said, ‘lf Thine, O Lord, 
is the voice, teach me to hear and act;’ and I heard, ‘ Fear not, 
for I am with thee; neither be thou dismayed.’ I thanked God 
and took courage.” 

Cheered by the evident presence of the Lord, he went for- 
ward through a native village, deserted save for the dogs that 
barked at his approach, and on yet a little way, where he found 
the very spot on which his future station was planted. The 
good hand of the Lord upon him was manifested in the friend- 
liness of the villagers when they returned from a fishing ex- 
pedition. The right place for beginning the new work had 
been found. 


3 33 


34 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


A PROVIDENCE THAT FOUNDED A MISSION 


In his “‘ History of the Missionary Society of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church,” published in 1832, Dr. Nathan Bangs, one 
of the organizers of the society, says of their first mission to 
people of another tongue than English: 


“The introduction of the gospel among the Wyandottes, a 
tribe of Indians living at the Upper Sandusky, in the State of 
Ohio, is illustrative of one of those singular providences which 
tend to ‘confound the wisdom of the wise,’ and to prove that 
‘the excellency of power’ by which sinners are converted from 
the error of their way, is ‘of God and not of man.’ ” 


The agent, John Stewart, was a freedman of Virginia, a 
mulatto, called in a remarkable way to a work which Methodist 
history declares fully confirmed the genuineness of his expe- 
rience. He had lived a godless, intemperate life, but the Lord 
converted his heart. The account of his call is given in Stewart’s 
own words: 


“Soon after I embraced religion, I went out into the fields 
to pray. It seemed to me that I heard a voice, like the voice of 
a woman, praising God, and then another, as the voice of a man, 
saying to me, ‘ You must declare My counsel faithfully.’ These 
voices ran through me powerfully. They seemed to come from 
a northwest direction. I soon found myself standing on my 
feet, and speaking as if I were addressing a congregation. 

“This circumstance made a strong impression on my mind, 
and seemed an indication to me that the Lord had called me to 
warn sinners to flee from the wrath to come; but I felt myself 
so poor and ignorant that I feared to make any such attempt, 
though I was continually drawn to travel toward the source 
from whence the voices came. This impression followed me 
from day to day; but I resisted from a sense of my unfitness 
for such a work, until I was laid upon a sick-bed. 

“On my recovery I concluded that if God would enable me 
to pay my debts, which I had contracted in the days of my folly, 
I would go. This I was enabled soon to do, and I accordingly 
took some clothes in a knapsack and set off toward the north- 
west, not knowing whither I was to go. When I set off, my 
soul was very happy, and I steered my course, sometimes in the 
road and sometimes through the woods.” 


BY AUDIBLE VOICE 35 


The Delawares besought him to stop with them, but he felt 
the call urging him ever northwestward until he reached the 
upper Sandusky, where his labors were blessed of God to the 
conversion of many of the Wyandottes. As the work grew, 
it was taken over by the Methodist organization in Ohio, Stewart 
being associated with it till his death, in 1823. 

Reviewing the circumstances of the man’s call and the 
blessings upon his service, Dr. Bangs declares: 


“That he should succeed in awakening such attention to 
the things of Christianity among a people so strongly wedded 
to their heathenish customs or to the mummeries of a fallen 
church, and finally bring so many of them to the knowledge of 
‘the truth as it is in Jesus,’ cannot, I think, be accounted for 
otherwise than by acknowledging the divine hand guiding him 
in all these things, and giving sanction to his labors.” 


THE SUMMONS TO THE CHIEF 

It was after a visit to the Solomon Islands that Secretary 
C. K. Meyers, of the Seventh-day Adventist Board, wrote this 
story of the conversion of a savage chief. 

In the village of Ramada, in the Solomon Islands, in a 
service which led into a testimony meeting, the chief of the 
village gave the following statement as to how he came to be 
interested in and accept the gospel message: 


“You are listening,’ he said, “to the word of Mavo, the 
chief of all this people. They can testify that I have been a very 
wicked man in my day, and they can also testify that by the 
grace of God a great change has taken place. The change came 
about in this way: 

“T first heard about Seventh-day Adventist missionaries 
when Brother G. F. Jones was working sixty miles away, down 
the coast. One day, as I was thinking of what I heard about 
Mr. Jones’ mission, a voice down in my heart said to me. 
‘Mavo, that is what you need for your village. You must 
send for Mr. Jones.’ 

“That voice became so strong that I sent for the missionary. 
But he sent back word that he would come sometime. 

“Months passed,” said the old chief, “and he never came; 
and again that voice said to me, ‘It is time you were sending 


36 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


again for the missionary.’ And so | kept sending for two years; 
but the missionary was too busy to come. 

“ Then finally I sent a strong deputation, and while my men 
were gone, some of your enemies came to me, and said, ‘ Mavo, 
don’t you know you have done a very foolish thing in sending 
for the white missionary? He is not your friend. You have 
seen enough of the white men to know that they are all alike, 
and like the traders they will come in here and steal your cocoa- 
nuts and reduce your people to slavery.’ And then,” said Mavo, 
“1 wished in my heart that the missionary would not come. 

“ But,” he continued, “this time the missionary came, and 
of course I had to be kind to him because I had sent so often 
for him. 

“And now,” he said, “we have tried the experiment, and 
if this thing is bad, as your enemies said, then I am whole- 
heartedly for the thing that is bad; for see what it has done for 
our village! Our children are in school, our old wicked prac- 
tices have been removed, and we are rejoicing in the knowledge 


of the great God.” 

Then with intensity beaming out of his black, beady eyes, he 
solemnly said, “ There must be no ‘tacking about’ with Mavo, 
but by the grace of God he must make a straight course to the 
kingdom.” 


THE GUIDING VOICE 


Many years ago it was, in a great city in the north of 
England, that a seeker after light, praying for guidance, was 
directed by a spoken voice to this Seventh-day Adventist people, 
the very denominational name being spoken to her soul. She 
found us after persistent searching. 

Here is a story of more recent times. South Africa is the 
place. At a conference in Cape Town, Mr. and Mrs. H 
were in constant attendance. He is an active business man, 
and must have had to neglect business that week. “It is won- 
derful!” said Mrs. H , as day by day the program of the 
conference brought all phases of the work of God before us. 








She had had a rather special experience of the guiding hand 
of God in coming into this way. This is her story: 


BY AUDIBLE VOICE 37 


“T had heard the message preached, and was receiving Bible 
studies. I felt convinced that this was the truth, and that I 
ought to keep the Sabbath. But my husband at that time was 
opposed to the doctrines we had heard. He was really bitterly 
opposed. 

“T was tired and lying down one day, worried with anxiety 
over the question of duty. I felt very broken. I felt that I 
must follow Jesus, even if it meant forsaking all for Him. I 
prayed earnestly, as I lay there, asking God for assurance in 
the right way. Was this the people of God? and should I go 
with them? 

“Half dozing in my weariness, I heard a voice that instantly 
set me wide awake: ‘They are My people; and I will be 
their God.’ 

“T got up and looked out of the door to make sure it was 
not one of my girls speaking. No one was there. I was fully 
convinced that God had given me the assurance for which I had 
prayed. I took my stand fully for this truth, and soon Mr. 
H did the same.” 


So once again the promise was fulfilled: 

“Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is 
the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when 
ye turn to theleft.” Isa. 30: 21. 

Yet our sister was hearing that voice in Holy Scripture, 
speaking all the time. Her heart was listening to the word, and 
that is the sure voice, above anything that could possibly come 
to the senses. The one in doubt as to the way must ever follow 
the way that stands written in the plain old Bible. 

In these crises of experience that come, in deciding for or 
against the truth, men and women must deal with God, as it 
were, face to face across the written Word. Yet it is cheering 
as here and there these experiences of direct intervention are 
reported, showing that angels of God, unseen by mortal eyes, 
are hovering near to help all seekers after truth. 

Of that experience long ago in the north of England, alluded 
to above, it may be well to speak more fully. The story was 
told me by Evangelist A. S. Rodd, who has held evangelistic 
missions year after year in the cities of England and Scotland. 
He said: 





38 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


“A lady, with her husband, a retired sea captain, came to 
the meeting. They were interested and continued attendance. 
As I was just getting into the Sabbath question in the addresses, 
the lady said to the Bible worker : 

“*Are you Seventh-day Adventists?’ 

“* Yes,’ said our worker, at the same time fearing that the 
interested hearers might not continue to come; but they came. 

“The Sabbath question was fully presented. Then the 
lady told the worker the following experience: 

“* Twelve years ago, as I was longing to know the way of 
truth and was praying to know which way to take, I heard a 
voice speak to me, saying, “ Every denomination has some truth, 
but the denomination that has the most truth is a small one 
called the Seventh-day Adventists.” I had not heard the name 
before, and have not heard it since until I asked you if you were 
Seventh-day Adventists.’ 

“T had that night in the discourse referred to the Lord’s 
speaking to hearts in the silent watches of the night. The lady 
came to me at the close of the sermon, and said, ‘ How did you 
know the Lord had spoken to me in the silent watches of the 
night?’ 

“T disclaimed any personal reference. But she said, ‘ That 
has been my experience,’ and turning to her husband, she said, 
“I am determined to keep the Sabbath.’ 

“ Her life has since been a credit to the church.” 


LED TO THE WORD BY NIGHT 


Brought into touch with mission effort in one of our great 
Eastern cities, a lady whose father was a Jew and her mother 
a Catholic, told me how God had directly called her to seek the 
light of truth. She said: 


“T had known nothing of the Bible. At the time of which 
I speak, my husband had been called away on business, and I 
was alone for the night in my home. 

“Soon after midnight I awoke, startled. Somehow a ter- 
rible fear was upon me. I could not explain it, but it was so 
real that I feared to stay in the house alone. A voice, calling 
me by name, said, ‘ Go to the hotel and take a room.’ I got up 
and dressed and went out into the city, and took a hotel room 
about one o’clock in the morning. When I was shown to the 
room at the hotel, I saw a book lying on the table in my room. 


BY AUDIBLE VOICE 39 


It was one of the Bibles which the Gideon League distributes 
among hotels throughout the country. It was a new book to me. 

“ Thoroughly awake, I sat up the rest of the night and read 
that Bible. By early morning I wanted a Bible of my own. 
At first I thought I would ring for the boy, and ask him to ask 
the manager if I might not buy that copy. Then I thought it 
would appear strange, and they would think I was not quite 
balanced, coming to the hotel at one o’clock in the morning and 
then early in the morning trying to buy a Bible from them. So 
I went home. 

monimend.calledss Li saidssitave youra. Biblers “Surely, 
she said, ‘I have two or three of them.’ ‘ Let me have one,’ 
I said. So, finding myself in possession of a Bible, I began to 
study it.” 


Very soon the lady was rejoicing in the experience of 
personal faith in Christ and His salvation. In telling me the 
story, the narrator said she could never cease to thank God 
that He woke her up that night so strangely, and sent her to 
the hotel to come in touch with His Holy Word. 


““MY CHILD, JESUS LOVES YOU ” 


Fifteen hundred miles up the Yangtze, in China’s Far West, 
a Bible woman came to me, saying, “I want to tell you what 
Jesus did for me. But I do not want you to think He would 
pay any special attention to me, or that I amount to anything.” 
And here is the story Dora Li told: 

As a small girl she had once attended a mission school, and 
had learned a few Bible texts. Then came her marriage, in 
girlhood, into a well-to-do Chinese family. She lived the 
ordinary life of the Chinese woman, with no thought of God. 
But she fell ill, and for weeks lay half conscious. Then it was 
that the long-forgotten Bible texts of years before kept coming 
to her mind. She often repeated them aloud. 

“Stop it!’? commanded her father. 

“ But I cannot help it,” she answered. “ They keep coming 
to my mind.” 

Then one day came a voice speaking to her heart. “It 
sounded so clearly that it seemed as loud and distinct as if a 


40 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


human voice was speaking to my ear,’ said Mrs. Li. “ And it 
said to me, ‘ My child, Jesus loves you; get up!’ 

“T rose from my bed, and from that time made constant 
improvement until well and strong. Then I began to search to 
find some one to teach me about Jesus.” 

She found the Way, and was out Ss her Chinese sistérs 
in Szechwan as a Bible woman. 

“But I don’t want you to think that I amount to anything,” 
she said, “ or that Jesus would pay any special attention to me.” 

The spoken voice had called her out of darkness to search 
for the true light. 


TO THE JAPANESE INQUIRER 
Evangelist Kuniya, of Japan, reported some years ago: 


“An old lady about sixty vears of age became interested 
and attended our meetings regularly. However, her husband 
and son opposed her, and she finally stopped coming. 

“A few days ago she called one of our young workers, and 
related her experience. ‘For some time,’ she said, ‘I was 
troubled greatly because my family opposed my attending your 
meetings. I thought it not good to disturb the peace of the 
home with my new religion, so decided to study and pray alone; 
but one night I was shown that I should attend the meetings. 

“*T heard a voice say, “If you stop going to church, your 
soul will die.” Still I had not the courage to go. Very soon I 
was taken sick, and suffered for several days. I prayed the 
Lord to heal me, but the answer was, “ No.” I was perplexed 
and disappointed; but last night I saw the sin of neglecting to 
heed the warning of the messenger, and repented, and prayed 
to the Lord to heal me. Now the fever has left me, and I have 
promised to attend the meetings, and also to tell my friends 
and relatives of this truth.’ ” 

She accepted Christ, and her testimony was a blessing to 
others. 


THE VOICE OF ASSURANCE 


About the year 1824, Samuel Broadbent was in Maauassi, 
the head kraal of Chief Siffonello, of the Baralong tribe of the 
Bechuanas. The tribes of South Africa were in commotion in 


BY AUDIBLE VOICE 4] 


those days. The stronger nations, like the Zulus, were taking 
tribal areas by force; and lesser tribes, driven by fear and 
hunger, were overrunning one another. The Baralongs had 
been driven from their old grounds, and were holding uncertain 
tenure of the Maquassi district. 

One morning, Mr. Broadbent says in his ‘ Narrative,” the 
town was in confusion, and the people in a wild flight. He 
learned that scouts had brought word that thousands of the 
Mantatees, on war footing, were sweeping the country, aiming 
straight for the town. Everybody was fleeing. Chief Siffonello, 
who was friendly to the missionary, begged him to flee also. 
But Mrs. Broadbent had an infant only a few days old, and it 
was impossible to think of flight into the wilds. “‘ You will be 
destroyed if you do not,” begged the chief. “I cannot remain 
to defend you; they are too strong for us.” But the missionary 
said he would stay and put his trust in his God. Mr. Broad- 
bent says: 


“There remained with us, after the chief and those with 
him had left, the wives of our wagon drivers, and a native boy 
and girl; but while my wife and I were taking some food in 
our room, these fled also, without letting us know of their in- 
tention to do so. 

“And now we and our two children were left alone. A 
melancholy silence prevailed during the remainder of the after- 
noon. ‘The evening drew on, and the usual sounds of men, 
flocks, and herds were not heard around us. The sun set, and 
the shades of night mantled over us. 

“T sat alone in the center room of our dwelling, my wife 
and children in the adjoining lodging-room. I was not without 
gloomy and depressing forebodings as to what might be the 
events of that night; when suddenly it was spoken to me. as 
clearly as by a voice in the ear, ‘The name of the Lord is a 
strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.’ I in- 
stantly closed the window shutter (for we had no glass), went 
into the room with my wife and children, and in prayer and 
faith committed ourselves to the protection of that Name. 

“ Strange as it may appear, yet it is a fact, we were sooner 
than usual wrapped in sleep, and rested better that night than 
we had been accustomed to.” 


42 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


For three days thereafter, he says, the Mantatee warriors 
were passing through the town. But he adds: 

“ Mercifully, divine Providence kept them from us. This 
fact, and my refusal to flee, obtained for me the credit of great 
courage, which, indeed, I did not possess; for I should certainly 
have fled with my family had it been possible. The Baralongs 
reported long afterward that I would not flee from the whole 
army of the Mantatees, and that they dared not come to the 
station while I was there.” 

Well did the missionary know that the Lord who spoke the 
assurance in that time of peril, had sent His angels to guard 
His servants from the armed host overflowing the land. 


GREEKS LED BY A VOICE 

In the records of mission work in Asia Minor and Turkey, 
one runs across incidents that recall the fact that it was in this 
same region that the feet of apostolic missionaries trod the paths 
in New Testament times. Then it was in no wise unusual for 
the voice of an angel or of the Spirit to speak the word of 
conviction or guidance. Here are two incidents of about 1895, 
narrated by the late H. P. Holser, of Europe, showing how the 
spoken voice from above led two Greeks into the light. A 
young Protestant evangelist, an Armenian, was holding meet- 
ings in Turkey: 

“Among the first to attend the meetings was a Greek, a 
zealous member of the Greek Catholic Church. He said but 
little, which is a rare exception, for the Greeks are great dis- 
puters, as they were in Paul’s day. This young Greek was quiet 
all the time, and when he heard the subject of the sanctuary and 
of Christ’s ministry as our high priest, he embraced the truth. 
Hereupon he asked the brethren if they had ever heard him 
dispute. They told him they had not. He then explained why. 
‘The first time I came into your meeting,’ he said, “a voice said 
to me, “ That young man has the truth. Listen to him; do not 
dispute!” And I followed the instructions of that voice; that 
is the reason I have not disputed.’ ” 

Yet again in those times the Lord intervened in the un- 
usual way. 


BY AUDIBLE VOICE 43 


“ Another Greek was induced to come to the meeting. He 
opposed all that he heard, and finally decided not to come any 
more. One day as he was crossing the street, a voice said, 
‘Turn down this street!’ He said, ‘No!’ But the impression 
became so strong that he finally yielded, and turned down the 
street. As he arrived before the house in which our meeting 
was held, the voice spoke to him, ‘ Enter here,’ and he said 
again, ‘I will not go into that meeting today!’ But the Spirit 
strove with him until he went in.” 


Still the young man opposed and disputed; but on a journey 
shortly after into ancient Cappadocia, the same Spirit that sent 
conviction into hearts in apostolic days strove with the young 
man until there on his journey he made his new surrender to 
Christ and to obedience to the truth. 


A VOICE FROM ABOVE 


It was in the Canadian Northwest, among the Russian- 
Ukrainian settlements, that a young Catholic was led to search 
for the Bible by a voice speaking to his soul. As an evangelist 
later among his people, I heard him tell, at a Canadian mission- 
ary conference, the story of his conversion. I transcribe from 
my notes as follows: 

One day he was at an auction, standing indifferently by, 
merely out of curiosity. The auctioneer held up a large book 
and otfered it. for sale. 

No one seemed to be interested, and as the auctioneer talked 
about the size of the book and begged for an offer, the Ukrainian 
youth good-naturedly bid 25 cents at a venture, never expecting 
to get it. But the auctioneer threw the book at him without 
waiting for another offer. 

The book was called “ Bible Readings for the Home Circle.” 
It was full of Bible pictures, and he was impressed that his 
mother would like to see those pictures. He would give the 
book to his mother. She would enjoy having so many religious 
pictures. But as he examined it, he saw references again and 
again to the Bible. 


44 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


He was not acquainted with the book called the Bible. 
Somehow, the very references to the unknown book challenged 
his heart. He found that he wanted to know about God and 
about the Bible. The more he thought about it, the more 
heavily the burden pressed 
upon his heart that he must 
find God. He must know 
about religion. 

It became an earnest, 
sincere burden upon his 
heart to search for the liv- 
ing God. He did the best 
he knew; he took a Cath- 
olic prayer book into the 
woods. Instructed in the 
ways of penance, or self- 
punishment, as a means 
of persuading God to be 
merciful, he cut out a sharp 
block with his ax, and knelt 
with his knees upon the cutting edge, doing penance for his 
sins, conscious that he was a sinner and without hope. 

Hours he knelt before God in the woods, praying and 
pleading for mercy and for help. He continued until, from 
lack of food and pain from his self-imposed torture, he fainted. 

Now, in his own words: 





A Colporteur of Northwest Canada 


“When I came to, I was in despair. I felt that surely there 
was no God, or He would have somehow heard me. The 
heavens seemed but brass, and there was no hope in all the 
world, or in heaven above. 

“Just then a little bird burst into singing in the trees above 
my head. Somehow the bird’s song lifted the current of my 
thoughts. I thought there must be a God who made the birds 
sing. ‘The bird is joyful,’ thought I; ‘why have I not joy?’ 

“Just then a voice spoke to my heart as clearly as though 
spoken to my ears, ‘Rise up! You are to be a witness for Me 
to the Ukrainian people!’ 


BY AUDIBLE VOICE 45 


“I went home, assured that God had spoken to my heart, 
and that there is a God who cares, and who had called me to 
serve Him. I was longing to know more. I knew so little as 
to what His salvation and service meant, but I was seeking now 
for light from God, and longing to know Him.” 


Next in order of Providence, a gospel colporteur came along. 
He talked of the Bible, and showed a religious book to the 
Ukrainian youth. “ You needn’t say anything more, I will 
take it,” he said; “but what I want to know is how to get a 
Bible.”” Soon he had the coveted Book in his hands, and found 
there the Saviour from sin for whom he had been searching. 


| *RISE;VAND: GO li) 7 


In his book, ‘Out of Darkness,’ Andrew D. Stewart re- 
lates the following story of the call that came to a young girl 
of India years ago: 


“To a simple peasant couple living in a quiet little village 
among the hills of the Cuddagrab district of India, there was 
born a daughter, whom they called Radha. At five years of 
age she was betrothed. Ere she was of age to undertake the 
duties of wifehood, her betrothed husband died. It may be that 
this calamity increased the serious tendency of her mind, but 
from this time she had much serious thought of the great Unseen. 

““Mother,’ said the thoughtful child, when she had not 
completed her eleventh year, ‘ tell me some way to heaven.’ 

“ But the heathen mother’s reply brought her scant comfort. 
As soon as she was old enough to undertake a journey, she set 
out on a pilgrimage to a well-known shrine, returning home 
with her heart no lighter. Thinking that perhaps her hard- 
earned money gift had not been sufficient, she resolved to visit 
the shrine of Venkateshwara, and that in addition to a money 
eift of six rupees, she would give her hair as an offering to 
the god. But even this brought her no satisfaction. 

“In turn, she visited Rasverudu and Kadiri, and at the 
latter she again had her head shaved, and presented her hair 
as an offering. She returned to the quiet mountain home with 
a heavy heart. Her offerings and her pilgrimages had brought 
her no peace. 

“On the occasion of a great religious festival, every man, 
woman, and child had left her village. She had no heart to go, 


46 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


though her companions pressed her to accompany them. She 
was feeling very lonely and forsaken. Evening set in, and it 
became dark. As she sat in her loneliness, she heard distinctly 
some one say, as though the words had been spoken at her side, 
‘Rise, and go to Rajapalli!’ 

“Where the voice came from, she knew not, but she an- 
swered, ‘ Who is there?’ 

“ Receiving no reply, she became frightened, and rose up 
and hurried out to meet the returning villagers. All the next 
day, the words kept ringing in her ears, ‘Rise, and go to 
Rajapalli.’ 

“Why should she go? she asked herself. There was no 
temple there; and her friends sought to dissuade her. Again 
she set off on the old quest for peace. She arrived at Rajapalli, 
and spent a day or two there. As nothing happened, she set 
out for a town two miles distant, where lived a wonderful fakir 
who had never been known to speak. There was a crowd of 
worshipers who ministered to his wants, but her worship of 
the holy man seemed only to displease him, for he turned away 
from her. But salvation was near at hand. : 

“In the same town she met those who told her of the 
Christian’s God. She was attracted by what she heard. and 
went again and again to those who knew of Him, asking to hear 
more concerning Him. 

“When her relatives became aware that she was attending 
Christian services, they cast her out. A kindly neighbor took 
pity on her, and through her she was brought to the mission at 
Avandapet. Here she found the light she had long been seeking, 
and here she gave her whole life into Christ’s keeping. She 
received Him with the simplicity of a little child, and continued 
joyfully and trustfully to walk with Him.” 


WARNED TO ESCAPE 


In the Matabele rebellion, of 1896, outlying mission stations 
were endangered by the raiding tribesmen. Missionaries fled 
to Bulawayo. In his book, “On the Trail of Livingstone,” 
W. H. Anderson tells of trips from Bulawayo to the region 
of the forsaken station, in order to get food supplies. The 
foraging for supplies had to be done by night. Of one ex- 
perience he says: 


BY AUDIBLE VOICE | 47 


“When our provisions began to run low again, I thought 
it was my turn to take the risk, and so went through to the 
farm in the night on foot to get another supply. While I was 
there, the natives reported to me that I could buy provisions at 
Solusi’s village, about four miles away. I went down to see 
what I could find; and on my way back, a voice spoke to me, 
saying, ‘Get out of here quickly, for you are in danger! ’ 





A Matabele Village 


“1 wondered where the danger could come from, but hur- 
ried along the path as fast as I could run. That night I feared 
to sleep in our house at the mission, so took my blankets and 
slept in the thick bush about half a mile away. 

“Next morning some friendly natives came up to the house, 
and asked what path I had taken on the way home from Solusi’s 
kraal the night before. I told them which path I had taken, 
and they asked me where I was when the sun went down. I 
told them that I was near the river. 

“They looked at one another in astonishment, and inquired 
if I had seen none of the rebels. I said, ‘ No.’ Then I learned 
that within a few minutes after I heard the warning voice, about 
300 of the rebels came down another footpath into the one 
along which I was traveling, and went on to Solusi’s kraal. 

“Again I was reminded of the assurance, ‘The angel of 
the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and 
delivereth them.’ ”’ 


48 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


THE, VOICE 10 ‘HER HEARSE 


Attending meetings in Queensland, Australia, I met one of 
the aged mothers in Israel, who bore clear testimony to the 
direct intervention of the Lord in turning her feet into the way 
of obedience to His commandments. This is the narrative, as 
set down from her own lips, as Mother Snape talked of the 





Superintendent’s Home, Solusi Mission, Southern Rhodesia 


goodness of the Lord in guiding her through a long life. She 
said: 

“ [was a stanch Presbyterian. My husband and I had had 
some talk with Pastor G. B. Starr, who had come to Toowoomba. 
\We knew that he was a Seventh-day Adventist, and had had 
some talk about the Sabbath question. One Saturday my hus- 
band and | were out in the field at work. Pastor Starr came 
along, having been holding meetings over in the Ranges. He 
stopped for a moment as he passed us. 

‘“* Ah,’ he called out, ‘I see you are breaking the Sabbath 
to keep the Sunday.’ 

“TI replied lightly, ‘Yes, that is what we are doing.’ 

‘‘ Immediately a voice said to me, ‘ Yes, that is what you are 
doing, breaking the Sabbath.’ 

‘And all day long, and all through the Sunday service at the 
church next day, every now and then it was ringing in my ear, 
‘Yes, that is what you are doing, breaking the Sabbath.’ ”’ 


BY AUDIBLE VOICE 49 


“ You did not hear it with your ears?” I said to Mrs. Snape, 
as she was relating the experience. 

“No,” she replied, “not with my ears, but it was so clear 
that I thought every one else would hear it with their ears. 
It was just as distinct as if it was being spoken in an ordi- 
nary voice.” 

Before the next Sabbath came, Mrs. Snape and her husband 
had decided to keep the Sabbath of the Lord. 


THE CHALLENGING s VOICE 


While visiting in Australia I met a resident of Sydney, an 
earnest Christian and an energetic man in business. His ex- 
perience shows that still, as of old, the Lord is able to deal with 
honest hearts, however careless, sometimes taking an unusual 
way of turning feet into the right path. The brother said: 


“T had been an ungodly man, and drank quite a bit. My 
wife and daughter had kept the Sabbath for twelve months 
before I knew it, as they had feared my objections to their 
joining this people. 

“One day I went into the hotel [saloon]. As I lifted the 
glass of beer to my lips, it tasted stale and putrid. 

“* What is the matter with this beer?’ I asked. 

“* Nothing,’ said the barkeeper. ‘ Others are drinking the 
same. The trouble is with you.’ 

“He gave me a glass of stout, but it was just the same. 
It was intolerable to my taste. Next I called for whisky, and 
it was the same experience. It was most unpalatable. I turned 
and left, and found that the whole desire for drink was taken 
from me from that moment. My mates could not understand 
why I had ceased going to the hotel, but I was done with the 
drink. I did not tell my wife, however. 

“Two or three weeks later the camp-meeting came on, and 
I attended. An appeal was made at one of the early morning 
meetings. Brother Knight said to me as we left the tent, 
‘When will you take your stand?’ 

“*Not now,’ I said; ‘I am not inclined to change my po- 
sition.’ 

“ But after the meeting, as I walked with him down toward 
the dining-tent, I felt something as if a hand pressed against 


4 


50 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


my breast, and a voice said, “How far are you going before 
you turn back?’ 

““T knew it was the voice of God. I stopped. The brother 
said, ‘ Why have you stopped?’ 

‘““* Never mind,’ I said, ‘you go on.’ 

“T thereupon returned to the ministers’ tent where Pastor 
Fulton was, and said: ‘ I have had a call from the Lord,’ and as 
we talked there that morning, I made my surrender to God.” 


IN EARLY RUSSIAN DAYS 


Here is a report from early Russian times, showing how 
the Lord spoke directly to one Russian family: 


“Listen how the Spirit of the Lord works in this country: 
On July 27 a Baptist went with his family to his field to harvest. 
It was the Sabbath, and we were just gathering to study the 
Word of God together. After being there a little while, the 
man came in with two scythes on his shoulders, followed by his 
wife and children, all in tears. For a moment we hardly knew 
what to say. When we asked him, he told us that when he 
began to harvest, a voice seemed to say to him constantly, 
‘Today is the day of the Lord, a holy day.’ He could not 
work any longer, and today they united with us.” 


““ TAKE THE OTHER ROAD ”’ 


Speaking of a Seventh-day Adventist preacher’s deliverance 
from a hostile plot in the Brazilian interior, F. W. Spies, 
president of the East Brazil Union Conference, has reported: 


“In a certain section, an interest sprang up among Catholics. 
Some had already embraced the Sabbath truth, and were keep- 
ing the day. This exasperated those who turned against it. 
Satan decided to put a stop to the work by inspiring the op- 
posers to give the preacher a good flogging. 

“A secret plan was laid, and some thirty of the enemies of 
the truth gathered at a small rum shop by the road where the 
worker was expected to pass. They then encouraged each other 
by drinking more rum and telling how they would flog. the 
preacher. They even tied the gate through which he must pass, 
and felt sure they had him in their power. 

“The worker, however, was entirely ignorant of this plot, 
and was planning on taking this, the usual road, as he journeyed 


BY AUDIBLE VOICE 51 


on the following day. There was another road, which wouid 
take the worker to the same destination, but it was more difficult 
and less traveled. 

“On the morning of his departure, as he was saddling his 
mule to continue his journey, the conviction seized him, and it 
seemed almost like an audible voice, saying to him, ‘ Take the 
other road.’ Though the old and known road would have been 
far preferable, he obeyed what seemed to him the Lord’s guid- 
ance, though he could not then understand it, and was soon 
well on his way. 

“Not small was his surprise when, upon a later visit, the 
worker was informed of the plan of the opposers, and he real- 
ized how marvelously the Lord had led him and frustrated the 
designs of the would-be persecutors of His servant.” 


‘GET UP, AND GO!” 


In 1926, Dr. Ang, son of our veteran Pastor Ang, of 
Swatow, China, was captured by bandits, who held him pris- 
oner in a cave for ransom. Of his second night in captivity, 
Missionary I. B. Newcomb wrote: 


“He claimed the promises of Psalms 34:4, 7, and that 
evening went to sleep, feeling assured that the Lord would 
not forsake him. 

“About midnight he was awakened by some one’s telling 
him to get up and go. At first he thought the men were 
joking with him. He spoke to them, but they were all sound 
asleep. He quickly arose and slipped out past the two men 
on guard at the entrance, who were sleeping soundly. 

“He started to run, but where should he run? Here he 
was, miles from he didn’t know where. So as he ran he 
breathed a short prayer for guidance, and immediately heard 
the same voice that told him to get out, now telling him to 
follow the stars. On looking up, he saw three very bright 
stars. These he followed as he ran, stumbling and falling 
over the bowlders (he afterward showed me many bruises and 
cuts he had received on the jagged rocks), and even swam 
two or three rivers, until he arrived at a small village, where 
he secured lodging for the remainder of the night, then took 
a boat for home the next morning.” 


MISSIONARIES IN THE ANDES 
““He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee.” Ps. 91: 11. 


52 





The Footprints of Angels 


“ Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth 
to minister for them who shall be heirs of sal- 
vation?” Hebrews 1:14. 


PROTECTORS IN ‘‘ SHINING RAIMENT ”’ 


A REMARKABLE character in India is Sundar Singh, called 
out of Hinduism to be an evangelist in such out-of-the-way 
places as Tibet, Nepal, and other forbidden areas along the 
northern India border countries. Where no European mission- 
ary could go, Sundar Singh, in his robe of the Hindu holy man, 
or sadhu, but with the Christian evangel on his lips, made his 
way to and fro alone. He has related many a story of provi- 
dential deliverance. A Lutheran pastor in Europe, Fr. Heiler, 
who has published a book in Munich about the evangelist, 
relates the following: 

“Once as he [Sundar Singh] sat on the banks of a river, 
having lost his way in the jungle, lo, a strange man came and 
bore him, swimming across the rushing stream to the farther 
bank. But as he looked about to thank his helper, the stranger 
had disappeared. . . . Once a band of men armed with sticks 
fell upon him. He began to pray, and behold as he opened his 
eyes after prayer he was alone. Next morning the men who 
had attacked him returned, and asked him about the men in 
shining raiment who were round about him as they had attacked 
the night before, and he recognized that the angels of the Lord 
had encamped round about.” 


Sundar Singh takes a very modest, sane view of those ex- 
periences. To him they are but natural tokens of the promised 
presence of the Lord with those who go in His name, into 
regions where it would be impossible to go in human strength 
alone. He told Pastor Heiler: 


“The greatest, I may say the one great miracle that we can 
experience is the miracle of Christ’s peace. That a poor, un- 


a 


54 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


clean, restless, sinful man 
may receive the forgiveness 
of God, and taste the peace 
of Christ that passeth all 
understanding, that is a 
miracle above all miracles. 
If one has experienced this 
miracle, one need not be 
skeptical about any _  so- 
called miracle without. 

“The greatest miracle 
of all is the new birth. 
Has any one experienced 
this in his lifer Then may 
he know that all other 
miracles are possible. He 
who believes in this mir- 
acle believes in all mir- 
acles.’ 


WAS IT AN ANGEL’S 
PRESENCE ? 





An elderly Japanese 


Wide orld Plots ——~ woman who came into an 
Sundar Singh evangelist’s meeting had 

A Christian Indian missionary from the : ' 
Punjab district of northern India her attention riveted upon 


the preacher and his mes- 
sage by an uncommon experience. She could not read. 
Later she came to feel that in her ignorance God had in mercy 
drawn her attention to the Christian teaching by special means. 
After she had destroyed her idols and become fully a Christian, 
she told this experience, reported by Evangelist Kuniya: 


“When I came to the meeting the first night, I had never 
heard a Christian sermon. As I came into the meeting room 
with my daughter and sat down, there seemed to be a strange 
light by you while you were speaking. 

“T asked my daughter if she could see it; but she said that 
she could see nothing strange. I continued to see it as long as 
you were speaking from the Bible; and since I have learned 
more of the Bible, I have come to believe that it must have been 


THE FOOTPRINTS OF ANGELS 55 


an angel of the Lord sent to lead me to the true religion. [ 
thank and praise Him for showing the light to me, a poor 
heathen.”’ 


‘A MYSTERIOUS RESCUE ”’ 
Under this title, a chapter in F. A. Stahl’s book, “In the 
Land of the Incas,” tells the story of a deliverance that came 
to the missionary and his wife, pioneering among the Indians 





Missionaries F. A. Stahl and His Wife 
Visiting the Indian Stations in the Lake Titicaca Mission Field 

of Peru. They were staying in a village, when a mob of 
about five hundred Indians attacked the party. The priests had 
been giving the Indians alcohol, and were inciting them to drive 
out the missionaries. Some of the attackers were armed with 
guns. On they came, picking up stones as they surrounded the 
house where the missionaries were staying. Missionary Stahl 
says: 

“The first thing they did was to cut loose our five horses, 
so that they plunged frightened down a ten-foot bank and ran 


56 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


wildly off across the valley. 1 tried to stop the horses, but was 
attacked by some of the mob, and struck several times with 
stones. One stone wounded me severely on the head, and the 
blood blinded me. I almost fell; but Mrs. Stahl pulled me into 
the hut and closed the door just in time to avoid another terrible 
volley of missiles. 

“In another moment, however, hundreds of stones crashed 
through the door, smashing it into bits; and the yard was filled 
with shouting, frantic Indians. We quickly piled our baggage 
in front of the opening in the door, to prevent them from 
forcing their way in. They were shouting now loudly in the 
Indian language, ‘ Pitchim catum,’ which means, ‘ Catch them 
and burn them,’ all the while trying to push the baggage aside, 
and striking at us with their steel-tipped whips. The very fact 
that so many were trying to force their way in at one time, 
retarded them. Above the yelling of the Indians, we could 
hear the laughter of the priests. 

“Tn all this time we had not forgotten to seek the Lord, 
and we were ready to meet death for Him if He so willed. I 
hastily wrote a few lines to our coworkers and children at the 
home station, asking them to go on with the work. Mrs. Stahl 
prayed with and comforted the two Indian women who were 
with us in the hut. Our three native young men were brave 
and true, and were only concerned for us. With great difficulty 
did I restrain Luciano from rushing out upon the mob. Had 
he done so, he would have been torn to pieces in a moment. 

“At this juncture, the priests called loudly to the Indians 
to set fire to the straw roof; and soon some were coming with 
torches to obey the command. One of them climbed upon a 
pile of stones to light the roof; but as he applied the torch, the 
Indian woman who owned the hut jumped up on the stones be- 
side him, knocking him off, and pulled out the burning straw 
with her hands. Just as she succeeded in tearing out the last 
of it, she fell down, and some of the straw fell upon her bare 
head, burning her severely. She afterward proved a very 
important witness, because of this. 

“At this moment, when others of the Indians were making 
ready their torches to set fire to the hut, and we had given up 
all hope of rescue, the whole mob, priests and all, withdrew. 
We came out of the hut in time to see the priests mounting 
their horses quickly, and fleeing across the valley, the mob 
following them. 


THE FOOTPRINTS OF ANGELS 57 


“We asked a frightened-looking Indian who stood near why 
these people had fled so precipitately. He said, ‘ Didn’t you 
see that great company of Indians coming, all armed, to defend 
you?’ I did not see them. I turned to Mrs. Stahl, and asked 
her if she did. She said, ‘No.’ The Indian insisted that there 
was a great army of Indians coming to help us. We looked 
around, but could see no one. We know now that God sent His 
angels in that form to rescue us. There is no other way to 
account for what occurred.” 


THE ‘‘ FOURTH ”’ MAN IN THE BOAT 


The missionary knows well that the promised presence of 
the angels of God round about in the work of winning souls, 
is to be relied upon, though no visible sign of their activities 
is usually in evidence. Especially may he claim the heavenly 
helpers’ aid in times of special peril. 

Here is a testimony to the presence of a heavenly guardian 
guiding in a stretch of river currents more perilous than the 
missionary was aware of. Missionary L. J. Borrowdale was 
pioneering along one of the rivers of Venezuela, having two 
helpers with him in the mission launch. Coming to a fork of 
the river, they decided to take the right branch of the stream, 
and on they went over unknown waters. 

They had not proceeded far when they saw that they could 
not go farther up that branch. They returned to the fork and 
took the left branch, went as far as the waning light would 
permit, cast anchor, and slept in the boat. The next morning 
they proceeded on their way, and held meetings with the people 
of acertain town. On returning down the river, they stopped 
at a house at the forks of the river, and were given permission 
to stay all night. We will let Missionary Borrowdale tell the 
story in his own words: 

“The owner of the house wanted to know where our com- 
panion was. We told him he was down at the boat, and would 
soon be up. I thought he had reference to the boy. 


“He asked, ‘ But where is the other one?’ I said we were 
all there. He said there were four of us when we went up. 


58 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


He then asked, ‘ Didn’t you know that this is a very dangerous 
part of the river?’ 

“We replied that we did not know that it was. 

“Then he said, pointing to my companion, “ You were at 
the front steering, and you [pointing to me] were at the side 
leaning over to watch, and the boy was on the other side taking 
the depth of the river.’ _ 

“T asked, ‘ Where was the other man?’ 

“He replied, ‘ He was standing right by you.’ 

“He told us how each of us was dressed, and I asked, 
‘What did the other man have on?’ 

“He replied, ‘He was dressed in white, and he stood 
beside you.’ 

“Later he told us the same thing again, and I was made 
to realize that ‘the angel of the Lord encampeth round about 
them that fear Him, and delivereth them.’ We should never 
forget to give God thanks, for many times He delivers us from 
dangers that we are not aware of.” 


HELD BACK FROM DANGER 


While I was visiting the Far West of Australia, several 
friends were engaged in conversation regarding the delivering 
providences of God. Mr. H. Ward, one of the members of 
the Perth church, related an incident which I summarize from 
the notes as follows: 

Formerly connected with the company of believers in Perth 
was a blind brother, now dead. He lived at East Perth, and 
traveled in and out of the city by suburban trains. He was 
aged, but knowing the city well, he freely made his way about 
alone. 

One day he was traveling homeward by train. The last 
station before his own had been passed, and he was waiting, 
alert, so that he might step out quickly the moment his train 
stopped by the East Perth platform. He was alone in the 
compartment. 

The train stopped, and he stepped quickly to the door, and 
tried to open it, but the catch held fast. He worked at it en- 
ergetically, fearing the train would move on again. (It should 


THE FOOTPRINTS OF ANGELS 59 


be understood that in the English compartment system, the 
door from each compartment opens outward on the side of 
the train, passengers stepping directly out.) 

As he tugged at the door in vain, an express train dashed 
by close alongside, almost brushing the side of his train. Then 
he knew that he was not at the station, but that his train had 
stopped in the yards in order to let the express pass. Had he 
been able to swing open the door of the compartment, he must 
surely have been struck by the on-coming express. 

In a moment his own train had pulled into the station, 
stopping at the platform. The blind man put his hand upon 
the door latch, and found that it opened easily as ever afore- 
time. He stepped out on the platform, thanking God for his 
deliverance. 

“Ever afterward as he spoke of it,” said Mr. Ward, “he 
would state his confident belief that the angel of the Lord had 
held fast the door to save him from peril when he had mis- 
takenly tried to leave the train in the yards.” 


LED TO THE RIGHT: PLACE 


The following experience, related by Evangelist A. S. Rodd, 
of England, bears witness that truly the Lord does sometimes 
take an extraordinary way of leading honest hearts into the 
light. The usual way of working brings the great ingathering 
of souls. Yet while acknowledging His blessing upon these 
usual processes of soul-winning activity, it strengthens our 
faith to see His hand clearly revealed in extraordinary ways. 
This is the story as told by Pastor Rodd: 

““Some years ago a lady came to our evangelistic meetings 
in She had been an invalid, scarcely able to walk. She 
was an earnest Christian, but dissatisfied with her past expe- 
rience, and longing to find the way of truth more fully. To 
this end she had prayed. 

“One night in a dream, she told us, it seemed to her that 
an angel came and spoke to her. In the dream she said to 
the angel: 

“*T do not see how you can find the time to come to me.’ 





60 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


“Her visitant replied: ‘I can spare time always to visit 
any one who wants the truth.’ 

“ He beckoned her to follow, and led her to a mission hall, 
and pointing her to a certain seat in the hall, he bade her listen 
here and receive the truth. ‘ You will find the truth here,’ the 
angel said. Then she awoke. 

“Ever since, she said to us, ‘I have looked for that 
mission hall.’ 

“She had searched long up and down the city, visiting one 
place and then another, without finding the hall of which she 
had so vivid an impression. 

“* But here I see it tonight,’ she said, ‘and there,’ pointing 
to a certain chair, ‘is the very place where I sat in my dream.’ 

“Needless to say, she was an attentive listener as the meet- 
ings continued, and with joy she accepted fully the message 
for these times.” 


If all the angels are “ministering spirits, sent forth to 
minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation,” why should 
it be considered incredible that an angel should visit a praying 
soul and point the way to the place of truth? One cheering 
lesson of the story is the evidence it gives that God knows every 
home in all the great cities where a soul is praying for light. 


GUARDIAN ANGELS 


An Australian Christian worker, A. M. Williams, has put 
into verse the Scripture teaching as to angel guardianship: 


“The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that 
fear Him, and delivereth them.’ Ps. 34:7. 


“ There are faithful angel watchers with their wings above us spread, 

Shielding us from unseen dangers night and day; 

Prompting us to seek for guidance when unconsciously we tread 
In the paths of hidden danger by the way. 

Could the veil of mist be lifted and our mortal eyes behold 
Silent records being taken of each scene, 

How we’d guard our words and actions, many tales we’d leave untold, 
And we'd strive to keep our records pure and clean. 


“And the books were opened.” Rev. 20:21. 


“For the solemn hour approaches when those books by angels kept, 
Will be opened at the page that bears our name. 


THE FOOTPRINTS: OF ANGELS 61 


Do we fear to meet the record — deeds o’er which the angels wept, 
Sins for which our Saviour suffered grief and shame? 

When our names are called in judgment, will our Advocate appear 
And confess before the angels, ‘They are Mine’? 

Or deny, ‘I do not know them, they refused My call to hear, 
And those cherished sins of theirs would not resign’? 


“TI prayed in my house, and, behold, a man stood before 
me in bright clothing, and said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard.” 
ivi ty MEN ae Ieee & 


‘When we stand for truth mid error and temptation’s waves resist, 

All is noted by these angel friends of ours; 

And they draw a little nearer, ever ready to assist, 
And thus weaken by their aid the tempter’s powers. 

When discouragement o’ertakes us, and we sink beneath its waves, 
Looking through the hazy glass of doubt and fear; 

Angel guards press close around us, pointing up to Him who saves, 
And again our hearts are filled with hope and cheer. 


“We wrestle not against flesh and blood.’ Eph. 6:12. 


“ Evil angels throng our pathway, as with eager haste they press 

Their temptations and their snares to trip our feet; 

Holding up the world before us in its artificial dress, 
Luring to forbidden pathways by deceit. 

As the brightness of the candle lures the moth to hidden death, 
So the glitter of this world appears to charm; 

But its joys are on the surface, and destruction lurks beneath, 
Blinding eyes to faithful signals of alarm. 


“ Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister 
for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” Heb. 1:14. 


“ But our Father in His wisdom knows the weakness of our frame — 

Knows our adversary’s strength and subtle power ; 

And in tender love and mercy sends the angels in His name 
To sustain and keep us in temptation’s hour. 

Angels find their highest pleasure in this work for fallen man, 
Dwelling with us mid earth’s saddest scenes below; 

Working in co-operation with their loved Commander’s plan 
To uplift and save the world from sin and woe.” 


Man or Angel--It Matters Not Which 


“For thereby some have entertained angels un- 
awares.’ Hebrews 13:2. 


DELIVERED FROM THE DEATH PIT 


WHILE visiting America, Sundar Singh, the Indian evan- 
gelist, who goes into places where no European missionary can 
enter, told the following story in an interview secured by the 
New York Evening Post: 


“ Once when I went into Tibet, into the Forbidden Land, I 
was thrown into a well forty feet deep, where all the murderers 
were thrown. Before I was thrown in, my arm was almost 
broken, so that there would be no hope of escape. The bones 
of the murderers were about me. The well top was locked, 
and there was one key only, in the possession of a lama. I was 
condemned to death. I had no hope of escape from the well. 
I prayed to God only for escape from the body, and intrusted 
my spirit to His hands. 

“TI was there two days and two nights, and the third night 
somebody came and opened the door, and I asked him for help. 
He had a rope, and told me to put the rope under my legs and 
he would pull me up, and he did. It was a quite dark night, 
and I could not see him well. When I was up, he disappeared, 
and I waited for him to come back. But he did not come. 

“In the morning I preached again in Rasar, in that same 
village, and the lamas were surprised to see me alive and out 
of the well. They put the men of the village in a line, and 
asked me which one had done it, but I could recognize no one. 
And they said the key had been stolen, but it was found in the 
lama’s girdle. They said some one had broken the lock, but 
they found it was not so. The lock was quite all right. I did 
not think at first it was something extraordinary. I thought it 
was just a good man. But later I knew it must have been some- 
thing extraordinary. ‘Lo, I am with you even unto the end 
of the world,’ Christ said. And He was with me! 

“The lama was frightened, and asked me to forgive him, 
and to take his woolen shawl as a sign that I forgave him. 


62 


MAN OR ANGEL — IT MATTERS NOT WHICH 63 


Since then the people in that village of Rasar have been my 
friends.” 


“Perhaps it was an angel,” said Sundar Singh in another 
relation, “or Jesus Himself, who drew me out of the well. 
However it was, it was a miraculous work. The greatest marvel, 





Tibetans in Winter Dress 


however, was that in the midst of these fearful sufferings Jesus 
filled my heart with His peace.” 

“Not that the days of miracles are past,’ says Sundar, 
“but the trouble is the days of faith are gone.” 


FRIEND OR ENEMY IN BORNEO WILDS? 


The missionary knew that if the man with the weapon was 
an enemy, only the restraint of God could hold him from 
attacking ; if a friend and guard, then surely he was sent of God. 
It was in Borneo. Missionary L. B. Mershon’s experience in 
the wilds that night is told in Mrs. Elizabeth Mershon’s “ With 
the Wild Men of Borneo,” in her husband’s own words. He 
had been into the jungle to visit an Indian inquirer, on a remote 
tubber plantation. He says: 

“1 found the Indian man and his wife at home, and both 


were very anxious to hear more of the gospel. As I had not 
had lunch, they placed food on the table, and told me to eat 


64 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


while I talked. They were eager to know more of the Saviour, 
and why He came to this earth to die for man. They urged 
me to stay overnight, so that they might learn more. This 
was impossible. I had to hold a service at a little town near 
Papar on the following day, and my appointments were made 
to leave for Singapore the day after. 

“Still wearing my wet clothes, I started off on the return 
journey with the guide. It was late in the day; and as there 
is no twilight in the tropics, we hurried to pass the Bajau 
villages before dark. It is dangerous for a man to pass through 





The First Man Baptized in Borneo 
The stakes are to keep off the crocodiles 


any of these villages at night. I had in my pockets $400, which 
t had collected on my journey up the line, and I was a little nerv- 
ous about going through the jungle with the darkness coming on. 
When we had gone half the way, the guide told me he could 
not go the rest of the distance. The truth was that he had a 
friend who lived close by, and he wanted to visit him. Darkness 
was almost upon us, and there remained two villages to pass. 
I knew it was useless for me to urge him to come along, and 
although dreading the journey alone, I told him he could leave 
me there. 

“ Starting off alone, with a prayer in my heart to God for 
protection, I plunged into the jungle, with more than three miles 
yet to go. Presently a form loomed ahead of me. In the dim 
light I saw that it was a native with a huge club in his hand, 
going in the same direction. I did not want to pass him; so, 
lessening my pace, I followed slowly behind. Some time elapsed, 
and he did not seem to gain ground; so I decided to pass him 


MAN OR ANGEL — IT MATTERS NOT WHICH 65 


and put a greater distance between us. I! knew that one blow 
from that club would kill me, and after being relieved of the 
money in my pocket, my body would provide food for the 
crocodiles in the river close by, and no one would be the wiser. 
Fear gripped my heart, but the promises of God came into 
my mind. 

“Starting forward and walking at a rapid pace, I soon 
overtook the native and passed him. You can imagine my 
feelings when I saw him fall into step with me about a pace 
and a half behind. Afraid to run and thus reveal to him my 
nervousness, I hurried still more. So did he. I slowed down; 
he slowed down. Again I hurried, and again he_ hurried. 
Seeing that I could not shake him off, I stepped aside, pre- 
tending to tie my shoe laces. He waited for me. Not a word 
was said all this time. There was nothing for me to do but to 
go ahead. We got into step again, I in front, and the native 
just behind. If I had been considered a fast walker before, 
this time I broke all former records. On we sped, and not an 
inch did I gain. My feet were sore, and my muscles began to 
weaken. Soon I saw the lights of Papar in the distance, and 
when we reached the outskirts of the town, my native com- 
panion vanished. 

“To this day, I have never known whether he was an angel 
sent to protect me, or a native bent on hurting me, but restrained 
by the power of God. I know that I was delivered, and God's 
hand was init. Thus we see the precious promise fulfilled.”’ 


THE UNKNOWN DELIVERER 


In his ‘Tight Corners in China,” Samuel Pollard, of 
England, tells how an unknown savior interposed to deliver 
him from surely impending death. An armed mob in western 
China was attacking his house. He says: 


‘“T asked one of my men what it all meant. He quietly 
replied, ‘Capture— murder.’ Then I became aware of the 
fact that I was face to face with death, and in all probability 
a cruel death. 

“Seeing there was no way of escape, I slipped on my 
Chinese gown, and went out to the men who had come to 
capture me. I was immediately surrounded by the armed men, 
who were about sixty in all. 

“T can hardly tell you what my feelings were as I stood in 
the onen midnight air in the midst of the fierce, shouting mob. 


fw 
| 
. 


66 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


One man of the crowd kept near me and fascinated me terribly. 
He was armed with a long sword, such as executioners use in 
China, and from the way he stuck to me it seemed that he 
regarded me as his prey, on whom he would soon try his skill. 
I found out afterward that it had already been decided that I 
should die by beheadal, and so it was that the man with the 
sword walked by my side. 

“Two of the three Miao who had come with me were cruelly 
beaten, and I could do nothing to save them, except to entreat 
our captors to let them go, as they were in no way responsible 
for anything. 

“T tried to keep my wits about me, and wondered if in any 
way I could escape. And I prayed in that dark hour for all I 
was worth. When I thought of my wife and children in Eng- 
land, life seemed so sweet to me that I longed to escape. 

“Presently we came to a bank, with a stream running at 
the bottom. There was a little confusion as we came here, and 
taking advantage of this, | jumped at a venture. Landing in 
the water, | ran for my life down the stream, hoping that in 
the darkness I could elude my pursuers. 

“As soon as it was known I was trying to escape, there 
was a great hue and cry. As all hands were concentrated on 
me, my companions in trouble managed to slip away in the dark, 
and my attempted escape brought salvation to them. 

“My run was only a short one. My pursuers knew the 
short cut, and before long I was again surrounded on a sand- 
bank in the bed of the stream. 

‘““Savagely the men drove at me. ‘The first to strike me. 
was a strong man with a huge club. I watched him swing this 
club round, and as it descended I wondered what the next 
moment would mean for me. Crash—it came on my poor 
ribs, and then I was lying helpless on the sand. 

“Trying to rise again, I saw another with an iron weapon 
striking hard at me, and then it was crash once more. From 
this cruel second blow I have suffered more than from all the 
rest put together. 

“From all sides they came at me, and I lost count of what 
they did. At last I wished they would strike hard in some vital 
place, and let me go home to Jesus. I never thought I would 
live through it, after what I had endured. 

“There was One, however, who was watching over me, and 
it was not His wish that I should die at that time. 


4 


MAN OR ANGEL — IT MATTERS NOT WHICH 67 


“As I was lying broken and hopeless, expecting every 
minute to be my last, there came a change, dramatic and sudden. 
From the ranks of the men surrounding me there stepped out 
a man clad in a white sheepskin jacket. What was he going 
to do? He stepped to my side, knelt down by me, and with 
arms folded around me he lay on me as I lay there. He inter- 
posed his body between me and the blows. 

“This sudden movement took the men aback, and for a 
moment they hesitated. He backed up his movement by shout- 
ing ‘No more beating! No more beating!’ 

“To this unknown man in the sheepskin jacket I owe my 
life.:: Because he risked himself, I am living today. I never 
found out who the man was. To me he is still the unknown 
“savior.” 


ae THE LOAF IN THE FOREST 

“A. Swedish colporteur was returning from the mountain 
settlements in central Sweden, where books had been left in 
many homes. ‘The story was told me by the colporteur : 


“[ had the money for the books in my pocket, but on the 
return journey through the forest roadway I| ran out of food. 
1 was exhausted, and needed something to eat. It was really a 
serious matter. I turned aside from the path among the trees, 
and prayed to God to give me strength and help me to keep 
on until 1 could find food. The Lord blessed in that prayer 
season among the trees, and I turned back again to the road 
with my heart encouraged and my spirit strengthened. 

“Just as I came into the road, a man met me, the first human 
being I had met for hours on that lonely way. He was carrying 
a sack on his back. As I stepped out into the road, just as he 
came up, he stopped and put his hand into the sack and took 
out a loatoi bread. Holding it‘out to me, he said, “Here, do 
you want this?’ I took it, for I did want it. I realized that 
God had sent it to me. I turned aside after passing on a little 
way, and sat down by a stream, eating my bread and drinking 
from the mountain brook, and thanking God for His love and 
care.” 


Whether it was man or angel who handed out the loaf on 
that forest path, the colporteur says, is an immaterial considera- 
tion. The essential fact is that he was a Heaven-sent agent 
bringing help in answer to the prayer of a child of God in need. 





W. L. Haskell 





JOHN G. PATON 
Pioneer Missionary to the New Hebrides Islands 


68 


The Restraining Hand 


“ He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, He 
reproved kings for their sakes; saying, Touch not 
Mine anointed, and do My prophets no harm.” 
Psalms 105: 14, 15. 


‘“WHY DID WE NOT DO IT? ”’ 

In 1877 the French pioneer of missions in Rhodesia, Francois 
Coillard, was pushing northward toward Bulawayo. Lobengula 
was king there, and a savage. But long before reaching Bula- 
wayo, Coillard and his wife and niece and some native Christian 
families found themselves in deadly peril. One of their wagons 
was stuck in the mire. The chief Masoula and his men sur- 
rounded them, foaming with fury, and refused to let them go on. 
These savages dragged the women of the party to the tops of 
some high rocks, but Coillard followed after, and by dominating 
their wills was able to turn the party down again to the wagons. 
His native teachers wanted to begin fighting with guns, saying 
they would rather die like men if they had to die. ‘ Yes, my 
friends,” Coillard said, “die like men, but like Christians, too. 
Lay down your guns, and put your trust in God and pray. 
‘They that be with us are more than they that be with them.’ ”’ 

So for hours the little party was threatened, and some of 
the oxen were stolen. Led by the witch doctor, the savages 
swarmed round and round the wagons, waiting for courage 
to crush the little camp. 

““The night is falling, they cried, ‘and you are in our 
hands. We will have your blood and everything you possess, 
and we shall see if your God will deliver you.’ 

“T trembled at the thought that one blow from a hatchet 
might explode the chest lying outside the wagon, which con- 
tained our whole stock of powder. Seeing me stand opposite 
with a sjambok [rhinoceros hide] whip in my hand, they with- 


drew a short distance. The sun was going down, and our 
position became more critical every instant. My wife on her 


69 


70 MIRACLES OF MODERN. MISSIONS 


side was doing her own work; she had assembled the wives and 
children of the evangelists around her, to besiege the throne 
of grace and gather strength and calmness in prayer. 

“When once the bullocks were inspanned, we thought the 
cry of ‘Trek!’ would be the signal for a hail of arrows and 
assagais. But no! It only provoked the yells of the infuriated 
mob, and the bullocks were so excited thereby that they gave 
a vigorous pull at the yoke, and dragged the wagon out! The 
effect upon the natives was magical. Those who were blocking 
the way fell back to let us pass; the others made no attempt 
to pursue us. 

“ Meanwhile what was to be done? Night fell, and the 
natives would not retire. All around us their fires were glow- 
ing along the edge of the forest; we could even hear them com- 
menting with animation on the events of the day. And then 
it was that the plot revealed itself, which laid bare the horror 
of our adventure the day before. To throw our ladies down 
from the crag we were climbing, and then fall upon us, massacre 
every one, and plunder our possessions — such had been their 
design. 

“* And why did we not do it?’ they kept asking each other, 
clacking their tongues. 

“ Still when we considered it calmly, we found we had more 
reason for thanksgiving than for murmuring. Our lives were 
safe; though our goods had been looted, our cases had not been 
rifled; and although we had lost a good many bullocks, thirty 
remained, ten for each wagon. 

“We could not go far, for the night was very dark; and 
at every difficult place we had to double the teams. We had 
to resign ourselves to wait till the morning. The natives sur- 
rounded us, but did not attack us. Thus ‘the angel of the Lord 
encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth 
them.’ ” 


In the morning the presence of the Lord still held off the 
enemy, and slowly Coillard made his way on to Bulawayo, only 
to be sent away hastily by King Lobengula, who was furious 
at the white man’s preaching, and refused the presents that 
were brought. However, he compelled the wild Banyai to re- 
store the oxen they had stolen, saying that he wished nothing 
to hinder Coillard’s making rapid speed in getting out of his 
country. 


I 


THE RESTRAINING HAND 71 


“Why did we not do it?” was the cry of these savages 
who could so easily have done it, had they not felt the restrain- 
ing presence of the Lord, who again and again in the missionary 
wilds has said in our day, as in olden time, “ Touch not Mine 
anointed, and do My prophets no harm.” 


MOFFAT FACES THE CHIEF’S SPEAR 
When Robert Moffat was about leaving England for Africa, 
a lady asked for his autograph in her album. He wrote: 


“My album is the savage breast 
Where darkness reigns and tempests wrest, 
Without one ray of light: 
To write the name of Jesus there, 
And point to worlds both bright and fair, 
And see the native bow in prayer, 
Is my supreme delight.” 


Among the Bechuanas, Moffat met savage breasts that had 
little use for the gospel message. The rains failed, and by many 
signs the witch doctors could tell that the missionaries were 
responsible. Moffat was to be driven out or killed. The head 
chief and his men came to execute the decision. Moffat tells 
how he saw the good hand of Providence holding the chief’s 
hand: 

“While the chief was speaking, he stood quivering, his 
spear in his right hand. Mrs. Moffat was at the door of our 
cottage, with the babe in her arms, watching the crisis, for such 
it was.” 

The babe, by the way, was Mary Moffat, later the wife of 
Livingstone. Thus the chief threatened the missionary with 
spear poised. Deane’s story of Moffat quotes the missionary’s 
dauntless reply and refusal to flee: 


“Then throwing open his waistcoat, Moffat stood erect and 
fearless. ‘ Now then,’ he said, ‘if you will, drive your spears 
to my heart; and when you have slain me, my companions will 
know that the hour has come for them to depart.’ 

“At these words the chief man looked at his companions, 
remarking, with a significant shake of the head, * These men 
must have ten lives, when they are so fearless of death; there 
must be something in immortality.’ ” 


N 
Do 


MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


Robert Moffat, with breast bared to receive the blow, knew 
that the restraining hand of God alone had held the savage arm 
powerless to strike. 

FURY RESTRAINED IN TURKEY 

It was in ancient Asia that the apostle Paul found safety in 
the violent dissension that arose between the differing schools 
of Pharisee and Sadducee, as the Jews were trying him. In 
modern Asia, in earlier pre-war days, an Armenian Seventh- 
day Adventist evangelist, the late Z. G. Baharian, found de- 
liverance by dissensions that arose between members of a mob 
seeking his life. The building where he had held a meeting 
was surrounded. Stones were flying. He wrote: 


“Death seemed very near. We had no refuge but God, 
whom we trusted. One man was climbing up the wall to enter 
and take me out. Jf I were once in their hands, I could have 
no hope for life. But surely the angels of God had been sent 
to keep me from danger. I prayed to God, holding fast to His 
word, and behold, the people became divided, one class saying, 
‘Let us take him out this very night,’ and the other, ‘ Let us 
wait till tomorrow.’ The latter prevailed, and they went home. 
Thanks to God, it was very still, and we rejoiced.” 


The preacher went away at once. But when, later, he re- 
turned to the same city, the wild uproar breke out again. A 


report tells how, this time, the eves of the mob seemed held to 
allow the escape. We read: 


‘While they were engaged in their worship, another crowd 
assembled, until about a thousand people were there. They 
were screaming, crying to have the preacher given to them, 
throwing dust into the air, and stoning the house. A few 
brethren in the house barricaded the door, and then the mob 
began to dig a hole through the wall. The brethren within said, 
‘ Now is the time to go.’ They went out through the crowd 
who were pulling and hauling one another to get at the preacher. 
The preacher and his friends continued on to the dwelling of 
the mayor of the village; and all the way not a particle of harm 
resulted. The mayor told the evangelist he must leave the 
village; that it was impossible to restore order until he did. 
So the mayor provided horses and soldiers, and sent him out 
of the village.” 


WW 


THE RESTRAINING HAND Fes 


‘“‘IT IS AS IF I AM BOUND ”’ 


In his book, ‘“‘ Out of Darkness,” Mr. Andrew Stewart tells 
the story of a girl in India who, despite threats and persecu- 
tion, followed the Way of 
which she had heard by 
the preaching of a street 
evangelist. The © story 
goes : 


“She was but a little 
girl, but her relatives be- 
came alarmed when they 
saw what a change had 
come to her. They tried 
to force her to worship 
the idols, and to rub her 
forehead once more with 
the sacred ashes of Siva. 
She had found the living 
God. All other gods were 
henceforth dead to her. 

“Her parents, finding 
persuasion fruitless, tried 
all the cruel means their 
heathen hearts could de- 
vise to force her, but she 
would not yield. To save 
herself from the terrible 
fate that she knew awaited 
her if she remained longer 
at home, she fled: She 





: ‘ ae One of India’s Millions 
took refuge with Miss Berea, the girl wife, married at six years 
Wilson-Carmichael, of the of age, purchased her liberty and gave 


Sate herself to the work of Christ 
Church Mission. 


“ Again and again her father came to claim her. They dared 
not have retained her at the mission had he insisted, even had 
she refused to go. He had always to leave without accom- 
plishing his object. He had been heard to mutter, as he 
went away: 

“*What is the matter with me? My hands are strong to 
take her. It isas if Iam bound and held from touching her!’ ”’ 


74 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


CANNIBALS HELD BACK 


James Chalmers, the pioneer missionary among the canni- 
bals of New Guinea, knew well that the Master who said, 
“Go,” was with him in the perilous round of pioneer service. 
In his autobiography and letters, prepared by Richard Lovett, 
we are told of one occasion when he was compelled to leave 
Mrs. Chalmers for a long period alone with only the native 
teachers. It was an arrangement justified only by faith in the 
power of the Lord to be the defense of His servants. Often 
the cannibals gathered round about for their feasts. Lovett 
says of Mrs. Chalmers’ determination to remain for the sake 
of the work: | 

“ Never was there a more courageous or self-denying action 
than this. Alone among a horde of cannibals, for the sake of 
Christ! There was no possibility of her hearing from her 
husband. All her possessions were eagerly coveted by the 
savages, and that the bodies of herself and the Rarotongan 
teachers would have been considered choice dainties for a feast, 
there was no doubt. 

“From one of the chiefs, Chalmers came to know later that 
again and again the murder of the whole missionary party had 
been determined, and that those appointed to do the deed had 
come once and again to the low fence surrounding the mission 
home. The same chief told Chalmers that at the low fence 
they were restrained by some mysterious thing which held them 
back. When we remember that Mrs. Chalmers’ only helpers 
were two or three Rarotongan teachers and their wives, no 
devout mind can but believe that God’s protecting care was 
ever present to keep them.” 


‘““PUT AWAY THOSE GUNS ”’ 

This story of a rescue by Christian islanders on cannibal 
Tanna in the New Hebrides, is told by Nairn, in his “ Hero 
Tales of Mission Lands.” JIavis and Lomai, two former war 
chiefs, are the heroes. Near to the Christians lived enemy 
tribes, and beyond the enemy’s land friendly tribes had been 
defeated and were starving in the bush. Two women had come 
through the enemy lines to bring word. The story goes: 


THE RESTRAINING HAND 75 


“Instantly Lomai called for volunteers, and soon a large 
band of worshipers had started southward. As they passed 
through the Loinio country, the heathen of their tribe thronged 
round them. When they learned what was being done, they 
besought their chiefs not to venture on so dangerous an ex- 
pedition, or at any rate to wait until they could gather a large 
force of armed men. 

“Tavis rose to reply, but Lomai put up his hand. ‘ This is 
no time for talking,’ he said. ‘ This is a day for action in God’s 
name. Let us who trust in God go alone.’ The worshipers, led 
by their chiefs, then pushed on toward the enemy’s country. 
Suddenly another band of worshipers joined them, carrying 
their guns. 

“““ Put away those guns,’ said Lomai. 

““We are afraid to go without them,’ was the reply. 

““Then go back home,’ said Lomai, ‘for we go in God’s 
name, and not a worshiper shall take his gun this day.’ 

“Shamefacedly the men turned back. At length the wor- 
shipers reached the gullies that were the boundary of the en- 
emy’s country, and immediately they pushed across them. 

“* Stop!’ called out Lomai, ‘I see trembling among you. 
Let us worship God, and He will take away all our fears and 
lift up our hearts.’ ” 


So, there in the bush, in the enemy’s land, where any step 
might lead into ambushment, the rescue party sang a hymn 
and Javis prayed. ‘‘ Immediately all their fears vanished,” we 
are told. They passed safely through the enemy land, found 
the distressed tribesmen hiding in the forests beyond, and at 
last persuaded them to believe that God would help them to 
escape by the same way over which their rescuers had come. 
“God has sent you deliverance this day,” said Lomai. 

Zack they marched, the return being the more perilous, 
with men, women, and children, and aged and infirm. They 
were again traversing the enemy country. 

“ Suddenly the banging of guns was heard in front of them. 
Instantly there was a halt, and many turned to fly. The enemy 
had cut them off. In another moment the stronger ones would 


have plunged into the bush, and left the sick and weak and their 
rescuers to the mercy of their foes, but Lomai stopped them. 


76 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


“<Ton’t be afraid,’ he said, ‘God has sent us to you today, 
and we are all safe in His keeping.’ 

‘“ His firmness and courage stopped their panic, while scouts 
were sent ahead to see what was happening. Presently they 
returned to say the road was safe, and the refugees started 
again. It had been a band of the enemy whose guns they had 
heard, but God had protected them, as Lomai had said, and the 
warriors had turned back just before they reached the point 
where the fleeing people would have crossed their track.” 


So safely through they came, weaponless and trusting only 
in the divine protection. It had seemed an impossible thing 
that such a crowd could pass unnoticed through a tribal area 
on that small island; but Lomai knew the God in whom he 
trusted, and was vindicated in his declaration, “ We are all 
safe in His keeping.” 


THE CRY AT MIDNIGHT 


In 1839 two families had been landed at Somo-Somo, in 
Fiji, Mr. Hunt and Mr. Lyth and their wives. Soon the natives 
were threatening to kill and eat them. The old missionary 
volume, “‘ The Cannibal Islands,” tells how deliverance came 
one midnight: 


“At last it became evident that the people were preparing 
to put into execution their many threats, and one night the end 
seemed at hand. The missionaries had reason to believe that 
the people had gathered to murder them and their helpless 
families. 

“Tn the great gloomy house where the missionaries lived, 
with their mosquito nets hung up to prevent the natives from 
peeping in through the reed walls, this little band betook them- 
selves to prayer. They looked at the death before them. They 
saw beyond it, laid up for them in heaven, crowns of gold 
purchased by the Saviour’s blood. Although husbands and 
wives looked at each other and at their little ones, and realized 
the horrors of their situation, yet in this hour of danger they 
were ready on their knees in prayer to complete in death the 
sacrifice they had begun by leaving their homes and country. . 

“ At midnight, while they were praying, a wild shout rang 
through the air, and each head bent lower in anticipation of 
their enemies’ instant approach. But it proved to be the ery 


THE RESTRAINING HAND Tf. 


of their deliverance. The people had changed their purpose; 
and the cry they heard was a call to the women to come.to a 
mance, 7 


DETERRED BY A SERIES OF ‘‘ ACCIDENTS ”’ 


In carrying on mission work among the Indians of the high 
Andean plateau country, in South America, Missionary Orley 
Ford once reported a pioneering trip into a region formerly 
noted for thieves and robbers. “I had _ hesitated,” he says, 
“as they boasted they would kill the first ‘evangelista’ who 
came.” The report continues: 


“T found a few friendly, but the majority were not. About 
400 of the Indians gathered in ambush in a ravine where I had 
io pass, armed with clubs, poles, slings, ete. Through God’s 
care, a friendly Indian brought me word, and also led me by a 
circuitous route over a mountain around this ambush. 

“Little by little the gospel seed grew in that place until a 
few began walking the twenty miles to the mission meetings. 
For a year they called for a teacher. Finally we sent them a 
native teacher, a very sincere Christian boy. God has had a 
divine care for this boy and his work. Soon after his arrival, 
his enemies gathered one dark night to kill the teacher and 
burn the schoolhouse. 

“While they were gathered in council before the attack, a 
bolt of lightning fell from the sky, striking the cabecilla, or 
leader. When they saw their leader killed, they decided that 
the time was not right for the attack. 

“A few days later they again gathered for an attack, but 
first held a sort of spiritualistic meeting to invoke God’s help. 
In some way the Indian medium, burning the incense, set his 
headdress on fire and burned himself badly. The sign was 
again interpreted that God was against them. 

“The third time they gathered, preparing a basin with fire 
to use in setting fire to the schoolhouse. Here matches are ex- 
pensive, and they carry fire from one house to another in earthen 
bowls. Accidentally, they set fire to a large stack of barley of 
their own. This seemed finally to convince them that God was 
against them and in favor of the teacher, so all quit being 
enemies, and began listening to what the teacher had to say. 
Several of the Indians making up these mobs are now, two 
years later, earnest believers in Jesus and devoutly serving Him. 


78 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


‘“ Recently I had the privilege of preparing a baptismal class 
of twenty-three at this place, and shortly afterward they re- 
ceived baptism. Another class is in waiting. ‘Surely the 
wrath of man shall praise Thee: the remainder of wrath shalt 
Thou restrain sts.770..10m 


THE ZAPOTECAN INDIAN’S TRUST 
A Zapotecan Indian, a youth, whose people alone of his 
village had found the gospel path, and had learned the promises 
of Holy Scripture, wrote of his experience during one of the 


risings of revolutionary times in Mexico: 


“When we read Psalms 34 and 91 and Revelation 3: 10, 
wherein are contained God’s promises to His faithful children 
who keep the word of His patience, our hearts are greatly en- 
couraged. Has He not promised, * The angel of the Lord en- 
campeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them ’? 
Because of our unbelief, at times we doubt, and think that we 
have received nothing of the Lord. Yet the Lord has promised 
that He will lift up a standard against the enemy. 

“One day the time came to try our faith in the Lord’s 
promises. The revolution covered all my country. The troops 
were called away from our town, so that the authorities could 
not give us protection against the rebels. When I saw this 
condition, I felt that our only security was in the Lord. Rom. 
8:31. My mother advised that we hide all our belongings, for 
fear the rebels would come and destroy everything, as they were 
doing at other places captured. I told her that God’s angels 
would deliver us from the rebel host, in case of an attack. 

“One night at midnight the rebels came against our town. 
There being no resistance, they had every opportunity to destroy 
and pillage. As I lay in my hammock on the rear porch, I could 
hear them coming down the streets, the heavy tread of their 
horses’ hoofs on the cobblestones, their excited voices giving 
commands and threats as men or women refused to open their 
doors, whereupon, with heavy timbers, houses were crashed 
into, accompanied with all the horrors of war. As they came 
nearer, my heart went out to God in earnest prayer; and while 
they pillaged the town, I kept on praying. I could hear them 
running by our house and breaking into the houses of neighbors 
about us. ‘Surely they shall not come nigh thy dwelling,’ 
the Lord had said, and I believed His promise. There was not 
a house, save ours, that was not broken into.” 


THE RESTRAINING HAND 79 


THE WIDOW AND THE PRIEST 


Some years ago, while attending a missionary conference, 
President L. H. Christian, of our European Division, reported 
the following experience: 


“I met not long ago a woman whose husband was a Roman 
Catholic; she is living in a Roman Catholic country of Europe. 
The priest came to her one morning and said, ‘ We are going 
to take your children.’ The woman had two young children, 
a boy and a girl. The priest said, “1 will take that boy and 
make him a priest; I will take that little girl within a week 
{and the law permits it], and make a nun out of that child of 
yours; and they will never see you again.’ 

“The mother turned to him and said, ‘ Before you do it, 
I am going to pray to my God.’ The priest mocked her and 
said, “ Your God cannot stay the power of Rome.’ She called 
a few of her friends together, and they placed their prayers 
against the papal power, and the priest never came and took 
those children! Something else happened that exposed and 
ruined him, and all who heard of it said, ‘A miracle has come 
to our people; there is a power in heaven that responds to 
faith and prayer.’ ”’ 


THE BLOWS RESTRAINED 


A colporteur in Central Europe had just sold to a young 
woman a copy of the book, “ Steps to Christ,” which has been 
published in many of the languages of Europe. Just after he 
had delivered the book to the young woman, her mother ap- 
peared. When she saw what her daughter had purchased, she 
raged with anger. The colporteur said: 

“Once she started into the corner, seized the hammer, and 
came at me, crying, “ You false man with the false books, your 
head must be broken! ’ 

“But the Lord held her back. She sank down upon a seat, 
and could not carry out her intention. I on my part kept quiet, 
thanking God for His wonderful help.” 

A similar testimony to the restraining hand of God — though 
not in a foreign mission land — comes from eastern New York. 
This time again it was a colporteur whose work aroused the 
fury of unbelief. Our colporteur-evangelist said: 


SO MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


“7 was canvassing in eastern New York, telling the story 
of my book. I was talking to a man working in his shop. The 
effort to tell him of God and of His truth seemed to enrage the 
man beyond all description. He stepped quickly over, and 
seized a large hammer and lifted it to strike me. But as he 
braced for a blow, he was seized with weakness, and staggered 
back helpless. I left him, and passed on my way. I believe 
the angel of the Lord was there to restrain the man from his 
purpose.’ 

THE BOOK UNBURNED 


It was in Czecho-Slovakia, the land of Huss, the Reformer, 
that a Bible passed through the fire unscathed, to the joy of a 
praying wife. The mother and daughter had become Advent- 
ists, but in that Catholic region the husband was bitterly opposed 
to their faith. Field Secretary H. F. Schuberth, of the Euro- 
pean Division, tells the story as follows: 

“One afternoon when some of our people were visiting 
there, the husband took the Bible, the New Testament, ‘ His 
Glorious Appearing,’ and some papers, and put them in the 
kitchen stove, and was very happy when the fire was burning 
good. Our poor sisters were crying at the loss of their good 
books and papers. At supper time, when our sister went to 
make the fire again, in taking out the ashes she felt something 
hard. She looked closely, and there she found the Bible and 
the New Testament! They were not burned at all! All the 
other books and papers were burned to ashes, but the Bible 
looked just as nice as if it had never been in the fire. Today 
that husband is no more angry with his wife. When church 
time comes, he says, ‘It’s time for you to go now.’ ”’ 


‘THE RESTRAINING HAND ’’ ON MALEKULA 


From the island of Ambrym, in the New Hebrides, four 
newly converted men volunteered to go over to Malekula, fifty 
miles away, to join in working among savage bush people. 
Some of the experiences of these island workers were told in 
the Australasian Record by Pastor J. E. Fulton. He wrote: 

* Joel and Joe, brothers, were threatened again and again. 


\lore than once muskets were leveled at them, but it appeared 
that a restraining hand held back the assassins. As of old, 


THE RESTRAINING HAND 81 


faith still ‘subdued’ men. Faith stopped the bullets, and 
through faith again these simple natives, with meager knowl- 
edge, ‘waxed valiant in fight, and turned to flight the armies 
of the aliens.’ 

“ One day Joel went to a water hole near his home, to drink 
and wash. On returning to his house, it was learned that he 
had passed within six feet of the wild bushmen who were hunt- 
ing his head, waiting in ambush for him in the tall grass for 





Photo by J. E. Fulton Joel and Joe 


this very purpose. Yet these wild men, with no fear of man to 
deter them, were for some unknown reason held back from 
shooting when they seemed to have Joel in their power. He 
passed close by them. A moment later, when they were dis- 
covered, they fired a volley into the house, and the ‘army of 
aliens’ took their ‘ flight.’ Who held them back? And was 
Joel afraid? No! He recognized that God -was with him. 
Just out of heathenism himself, here he was facing bullets for 
the Lord’s sake. 

“ Joe, the brother of Joel, was located at Malua Bay, a place 
notorious for its fierce people. One day he and a companion 
were invited into the interior by a chief who sent a messenger 
to call him. The chief sent word he was ready for a mission. 
When they reached the chief’s village, they were ushered into 


6 


82 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


the chief’s house, where they found most of the men of the 
place, each holding a musket. 

“Shoot him! Shoot him!’ the chief cried out. 

“The men leveled their muskets to fire, when suddenly an 
influential native was moved to action. He flung himself in 
front of Joe. 

“*T)on’t shoot him!’ he cried; ‘he is my friend. If you 
shoot him, you shoot me first.’ 

“The chief, however, still called for Joe’s death. But the 
men let their guns down, and Joe and his helper quietly made 
their way home. 

“At a missionary gathering I heard Joe tell his story, re- 
marking that as God had closed the lions’ mouths so they did 
not harm Daniel, so God did not allow harm to come to him 
amidst those savage people who were cannibals and would have 
devoured him as eagerly as lions would. 

‘No, the day of miracles is not past, and here in heathen 
New Hebrides the wonders of redeeming love are to be wit- 
nessed,”’ 


‘“ AS IF HELD BY AN UNSEEN POWER ”’ 


In recounting deliverances in China, during the Boxer up- 
rising, Mr. A. E. Glover remarks that nothing else than belief 
in the inspiration of the words of Holy Scripture could have 
supported him in the “daily dying” and mental anguish of 
hours upon hours of suspense in peril. The promises of the 
Bible came to him as direct from the lips of Christ: 


“Had my faith not been founded upon that Rock before 
the flood arose and the stream beat vehemently upon it, in those 
awful weeks of the ever-shadowing presence of the king of 
terrors, | know that my reason must have given way. It was 
‘by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God,’ as 
recorded in the Book of His inspiration, that I and those with 
me lived then. Our mental and physical, as well as our spiritual, 
life was supernaturally sustained by it. Through the written 
Word laid up in our hearts, the Eternal Word manifested to 
us both Himself and the Father. Jesus Himself drew near and 
talked with us by the way; and the words that He spoke to us, 
they were spirit and they were life. 

“It was literally as if I heard His living voice beside me. 
Now He was breathing in my ear, ‘Fear not them which 


THE RESTRAINING HAND 83 


kill the body, and after that have no more that they can 
do; but fear Him, which after He hath killed hath power to 
cast both soul and body into hell. Yea, I say unto you, Fear 
Him.’ 

““Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Be 
thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.’ ”’ 

This comfort in the promises, actually respoken for the 
hour, ts mentioned by Mr. Glover in connection with the strip- 
ping of his party of their clothing, with some rags thrown to 
them to partially cover themselves, while the executioners were 
aside preparing their instruments of death. The party could 
only sit on a slope of the hill and wait in the presence of the 
jeering mob. Then, lo, again the deliverance! He says: 

“How long we continued to sit there I could not say. The 
time seemed interminable. The sun was dropping to the west, 
and still the mob held back, and still the Boxers had not come. 
At length, to my amazement, one of the men (probably a shae- 
sheo, or village elder) called to us: 

‘““* What are you sitting there for? We don’t want you 
here. Be off with you! Tseo pa!’ 

“The cry, ‘ Tseo, tseo!’ was taken up, and I saw our God- 
given opportunity. 

“““We have no wish to stay here,’ I said. ‘If my respected 
elder brother will allow us to go quietly on our way, we will 
go at once.’ 

“ We got up and moved off. Once more the crowd fell back 
before us, as if held by an unseen power, and not a hand was 
lifted to touch us as we passed on to the Kao-p’ing road.” 


CONDEMNED, BUT DELIVERED 


In that memorable flight from far Shansi, in the days of 
1900, almost daily beset by peril, Missionary A. E. Glover and 
his family saw the delivering hand so continuously that his book 
telling the story could not be more accurately described than by 
its title, “ A Thousand Miles of Miracle in China.’ On one 
occasion, knowing they were condemned to death, and were to 
be carried in their mule litters to the edge of town for slaughter, 
they had said good-by to one another. Mr. Glover says: 


ot MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


“We now engaged unitedly in prayer, in which | com- 
mended each one into the hands of our Father, in respect of 
the death we were about to die. But even as I prayed, the 
petition seemed forced to my lips, ‘If it is not Thy will that 
we should die at this time, then, O our God, for the glory of 
Thy great name, bring their counsel to naught and weaken 
their arm.’ | : 

“Almost immediately afterward the Lao-ie entered with 
his following, and in peremptory tones ordered us out to the 
litters. I led the way with my little boy, followed immediately 
by my dear wife, leading baby Hope. But Ma’s impatience 
could no longer brook restraint, and brutally broke bounds. 
Seizing Miss Gates by the hair, he dragged her from the k’ang, 
and thrust her to the door with a blow from his clenched fist. 

“We were scarcely allowed time to seat ourselves before 
the signal to move on was given. Our Chinese boys were 
dragged back and not permitted to accompany us. So far as 
I was able to see, the three litters started together, that occupied 
by my dear wife and little girl following close behind mine; 
for which I thanked God, as the thought that possibly we should 
be divided in the article of death was the one thing that had 
burdened me. 

‘“As we passed out of the courtyard into the street, what a 
sight met our gaze! The roadway for the first hundred yards 
was held by Boxer guards, armed with sword and spear, and 
brave in Boxer red; while on either side, as far as the eye could 
see, was massed in dense formation a countless multitude, 
eagerly expectant, and armed (apparently, to a man) with 
some rude implement or other. 

“No sooner had we cleared the inn gate than the mob closed 
in upon us. Then we were halted, and they formed themselves 
into a procession, headed by Ma, the Lao-ie. A young man with 
a large gong stationed himself beside my litter. When all was 
ready marshaled, at a signal from the Lao-ie the procession 
moved forward to the measured beat of the gong. 

“TI could only attach one meaning to all this. It was a 
sacrificial procession, and our murder was to be viewed in the 
light of an offering to the gods. The appeal, therefore (very 
subtly), was to the strongest of human passions — the religious 
~~ 1n order to make the issue doubly sure. 

“ As we swung on in the midst of the surging mob to the 
place of sacrifice, it was only to prove afresh the power of Him 


THE RESTRAINING HAND 85 


on whom our mind was stayed, to keep in perfect peace. To 
the natural man, the situation was one calculated to inspire the 
utmost terror; but I bear record that the only dread I felt, so 
far as my own lot was concerned, was that suggested by the 
barbarous implements carried by the mob. I am telling the 
simple truth when I say that at the sight of the keen blades and 
pointed spearheads of the Boxer soldiery, I fervently thanked 
God; for they augured at least a speedy dispatch. A desperate 
set of men hung on to the poles of the litter. I can see the man 
who was next me even now, stripped to the waist, his queue 
lashed around his head, ready for action, a great stone in his 
right hand, a bowie knife in his left. 

“We had traversed about two thirds of the long main street 
when an extraordinary commotion ensued. The Lao-i -ie dashed 
at my leader’s head, and tearing at his mouth forced a halt. 
Then, in orthodox Chinese style, he raged and cursed, and de- 
nounced the people of the place for their ‘ peaceableness,’ and 
for having ‘ruined the whole business.’ 

“What this could mean I was at a loss to understand at the 
time, but evidently the preconcerted signal for attack had not 
been responded to. In all probability the Lao-ie’s orders were 
that, at a given spot, and when the gong ceased to sound, they 
were to fall upon us. The spot had been reached ; the gong had 
ceased to sound —that, at least, was certain; and the people 
had failed to answer the call! 

“Yes, had we not definitely prayed before leaving the inn, 
that God would bring their counsel to naught? It was a re- 
markable incident, the very last that one would have thought 
could occur in such circumstances; and I who witnessed it and 
realized, as no one else can, the absolute hopelessness of the 
situation from the human standpoint, testify that it was nothing 
else than the work of Him who had heard that prayer, and 
taken the wise in their own craftiness. 

“The Lao-ie’s rage yielded at last to the persuasive ve- 
hemence of those about — the men who had witnessed against 
us —as they urged him to have us taken to the boundary of 
the town, where they would themselves finish the matter to 
his satisfaction. Whereupon the procession moved forward, 
and we were borne rapidly on without the gate. 

“We were well outside, when Ma thrust his head into my 
litter, and said, ‘ Throw out your bed-bag — quick!’ . . . The 
disappearance of the hed-bag and its contents was followed 


86 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


forthwith by the temporary disappearance of those immediately 
about us. It was as a sop to ravenous wolves; and while they 
tarried to fight over the spoil, we were hurried on to the 
boundary. wel. 

“Tt was now clear to me that the end had come. To remain 
longer in the litter was an impossibility, unless we committed 
ourselves to the ropework; and to do this only meant eventual 
death in the entanglement of its meshes. So, infinitely prefer- 
ring to die outside rather than in, I took Hedley under my arm, 
and lifting my heart to God, jumped to the ground. 

“The scene that now passed before my eyes baffles descrip- 
tion. Shut in as one had been in a vehicle closed on three sides, 
it had been impossible until now to take in the whole situation. 
It would seem that the Lao-ie’s demand for my bed-bag had 
been the signal for a general mélée. The mob that had flocked 
out after us set upon the three litters simultaneously, and was 
soon broken up into squads of fighting demons, mad for plunder. 
Amid fiendish shouts they fought for the spoil. I had not been 
a moment too soon in leaving the litter ; for scarcely had my feet 
touched the ground before it was overborne, crumpled up, and 
demolished. | ; 

“ And now I looked anxiously for the other two litters. Not 
that I expected to see any one of their occupants alive, any 
more than I expected to be left alive myself. This was death, 
certain death, for us all; it was only a question of moments. 
But it was the natural and the uppermost thought in my heart, 
Where are they? Are we still together ? 

“Miss Gates’ litter was nowhere to be seen, and I concluded 
that she was dead. But there, parallel with mine, about twenty 
yards away, was my wife’s; and between her and me the howl- 
ing, fighting mob, surrounding and besetting her on every side. 
Looking back over the whole period of my sufferings, deep as 
were the waters of anguish that I passed through before and 
since, I can think of nothing that touched the agony of those 
moments. If ever a sword pierced through my soul, it did then. 
I had to be a helpless spectator of what I knew could only be 
the taking of the life of my nearest and dearest. 

“ I saw the litter heave over and fall heavily to the ground, 
the mules stampeding. I saw it buried the next moment under 
a seething, struggling mass of devilish humanity. I saw the 
knives with which they slashed at the cordage and framework; 
and I called aloud upon God to have mercy upon my precious 
wife and child, and to shorten their sufferings. 


THE RESTRAINING HAND 87 


‘ Death was easy to me now, and I was even thanking God 
that it was as near as it was, when, as I looked, out from the 
midst of that murderous mass crept the form of my beloved 
Flora, and sweet Hope was with her! I looked upon them both 
as one might have looked upon Lazarus coming forth from the 
grave. The miracle is not less astounding now than then. 
It was nothing else than resurrection. As Abraham received 
his beloved from the dead, so also (I speak with deepest rever- 
ence) did I receive mine. Oh, how I sprang forward to meet 
her! Her hair was disheveled, and her face ashy white; but 
she was as calm as when I saw her through the hole in the litter. 
Both mother and child had come out unscathed. There were 
bruises and torn clothing, but not a wound, not a scratch; and 
baby Hope was as calm as her mother. Not only so, but to 
complete the marvel, Miss Gates was with them, unhurt and 
calm as they! 

“It is impossible to convey to the reader’s mind any adequate 
idea of the miraculous nature of their deliverance (for Miss 
Gates’ experience was, I believe, the counterpart of my wife’s). 
How it came to pass that the frail structure did not collapse 
under the impact of that great human mass hurling itself upon 
it; how it was that the occupants were not crushed by the 
weight under which they lay buried; how it happened that not 
a knife blade came near them as their assailants struck at the 
single mat of straw which formed their only protection; or how 
it was possible for them to break free from the narrow confines 
of their prison, and to find a way of escape, uninjured, through 
the murderous mob about them,— these are questions the an- 
swer to which can be found alone in the Word of God, ‘ The 
Angel of His presence saved them.’ 

“I cannot pretend to describe the feelings with which we 
stood once more together. We drew aside to a clear spot just 
off the roadway, and lifted our hearts in praise and thanksgiving 
to Him who alone doeth great wonders. It seemed to me the 
earnest of deliverance even to the end; and together we re- 
joiced over so signal a fulfilment of the promise given when 
we started, ‘I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of 
thestard.4 = sx. 

“When once the litters were cut up, it did not take long to 
dispose of their contents. As soon as one and another possessed 
themselves of what they wanted or could lay hands on, they 
made off with their ill-gotten gains. To our amazement, they 


SS MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


were presently hurrying in all directions, as if in flight; and 
we were left standing alone! Was it the breath of God scatter- 
ing them? Or had they, like one of old, seen the form of 
Another, like unto the Son of God, standing with us? Ina 
few minutes there was nothing left of the great throng that 
had carried us out to death, save a few scattered groups in 
threes and fours watching us at a distance. 

“Thus miraculously ended one of the most cr itical episodes 
of that critical period.” 


‘‘ NEVER LEFT WITHOUT HEARING THE PROMISE ” 


Facing death on savage Tanna, John G. Paton says he never 
was left alone. The consciousness of the Saviour’s presence 
was his support. This presence, he knew, was the secret of 
the restraint that had so often held the hostile arm power- 
less. Thus, shortly before leaving hardened Tanna, he and 
his Aneityumese teachers were in flight from their station, 
through the bush, to the other side of the island. A chief, 
Faimungo, had agreed to guide them through his land. But 
the warriors gathered, their weapons were poised and leveled. 


“They encircled us in a deadly ring, and one kept urging 
another to strike the first blow or fire the first shot. My heart 
rose up to the Lord Jesus; I saw Him watching all the scene. 
My peace came back to me like a wave from God. I realized 
that I was immortal till my Master’s work with me was done. 
The assurance came to me, as if a voice out of heaven had 
spoken, that not a musket would be fired to wound us, not a 
club prevail to strike us, not a spear leave the hand in which 
it was held vibrating to be thrown, not an arrow leave the bow, 
or a killing-stone the fingers, without the permission of Jesus 
Christ, whose is all power in heaven and on earth. 

a Faimungo and others now urged us to go on in the path. 
I said, ‘ Faimungo, why are we to leave you? My God heard 
your promise not to betray me. He knows now what is in your 
heart and in mine. I will not leave you; and if I am to die, 
I will die by your side.’ 

ia He replied, ‘Now I go on before. Missi, keep close 
to me.’ 

“ His men had gone, and I persuaded my Aneityumese to 
follow them. At last, with a bound, Faimungo started after 


THE RESTRAINING HAND 89 


them. I followed, keeping as near him as I could, pleading with 
Jesus to protect me. . . . The host of armed men also ran along 
on each side with their weapons ready; but leaving everything 
to Jesus, I ran on as if they were my escort, or as if I saw 
them not. ? 

“Tf any reader wonders how they were restrained, much 
more would I, unless I believed that the same hand that re- 
strained the lions from touching Daniel held back these savages 
from hurting me! We came to a stream crossing our path. 
With a bound all my party cleared it, ran up the bank opposite, 
and disappeared in the bush. ‘ Faint yet pursuing,’ I also tried 
the leap, but I struck the bank and slid back on my hands and 
knees toward the stream. At this moment I heard a crash 
above my head among the branches of an overhanging tree, and 
I knew that a killing-stone had been thrown, and that that 
branch had saved me. Praising my God, I scrambled up on 
the other side, and followed the track of my party into the bush. 
The savages gazed after me for a little in silence, but no one 
crossed the stream; and I saw them separate into two bands, 
one portion returning to the village and another pressing inland. 
With what gratitude did I recognize the Invisible One who had 
brought their counsels to confusion!” 


The Elements Overruled 


“Praise the Lord from the carth, ye dragons, and 
all decps: fire, and hail; snow, and vapors; stormy 
wind fulfilling His word.” Psalms 148:7, 8. 


A MANTLE OF MIST 


Wet known in the history of the Vaudois Protestants is 
the incident of the providential deliverance of a company of 
them by a covering cloud of mist that came down upon them, 
on an Alpine height, just as the hosts of Savoy were surround- 
ing them. So, too, fugitive bands of the old Scottish Cove- 
nanters were more than once veiled from their pursuers. The 
heroic Peden, leading a flight from the dragoons on a hill called 
the Sandy, prayed, ‘‘ Lord, cast the lap of Thy cloak over old 
Sandy, and save us this one time.’ And “in this he was heard,” 
says the Scottish chronicler, ‘ for a cloud of mist intervened 
immediately betwixt them.” If this were not a record of 
modern mission providences, we would be constrained to follow 
further the story of providences among these Scottish hills, 

“Where Peden bold in flood and fold, 
On mountain, moor, or glen, 


All seer-like, bore salvation’s cup 
To fainting martyr men. 


“ Where Heaven’s brooding wing of love, 
Like Israel’s pillar-cloud, 
Them lapped in nature’s misty tent 
A prayer-woven shroud. 


“Their home was oft the mountain cave, 
Their couch the waving fern, 
Their pillows oft the gray moss stone, 
In moorland dark and stern.” 


sut the untiring bands of missionary pioneers have had their 

share of deliverances by the intervention of the elements provi- 

dentially overruled. A covering mist was a mantle of deliver- 

ance to a missionary party in the early South African days. 
90 


THE ELEMENTS OVERRULED 91 


Cato, a chief of the Amazulu, was raiding the border. Mr. 
William Shepstone, a pioneer of Wesleyan missions, was com- 
pelled to flee from his station at Morley. In Mr. Shaw’s 
“Story of My Mission” we are told: 

“The station was not abandoned, however, till the enemy 
were within a few miles, and until Mr. Shepstone and his people 
saw several kraals in flames, marking their destructive progress. 
Hastily packing up their goods in two wagons, the missionary 
families and the people left Morley toward the end of October. 
1829; and most providentially a dense mist or fog concealed 
their movements from the invading Amazulu, or there is no 
doubt they would have been attacked on their way.” 

BY TEMPEST AND METEORITE 

Twice over, after having established a mission station in 
the wilds of what is now western British East Africa, Mr. 
Stuart Watt and his family experienced deliverances through 
the providential overruling of the elements of nature. 

Mrs. Watt tells the story in her book, “In the Heart of 
Savagedom.” They were among the fierce Akamba, who were 
continually warring with neighboring tribes. Mrs. Watt says: 

“One evening a vast multitude of warriors, who had de- 
termined to wipe out the white man from their country, were 
on their way to our station from a distant district, under the 
chieftainship of a very active and influential savage named 
Mwana Muka. 

“By sundown large numbers of these armed men, dressed 
in full war paint, had reached the base of the neighboring hills, 
from which point they were to make an onslaught on our 
station. Mwana Muka had told his warriors that they need 


not fear the white man, for he had made medicine to overcome 
all his powers.” 


The night came on. Mrs. Watt says they had put the 
children to bed with clothing and boots on, ready for instant 
flight. ‘‘ We had brought the matter of our position before the 
Lord,” she adds, “and were assured that, if it pleased Him, 
He would in His own way bring us deliverance.” 

As the darkness drew on, and the armed host of savages 
bided their time of darkness, with torches prepared with which 


Q2 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


to set fire to the mission buildings, the missionaries saw the 
signal deliverance for which they had prayed. Rain came on. 
The heavens were lighted up with jagged lightning. Mrs. 
Watt says: 


“As the earth was illumined by the flashes, we could see 
that, even where the ground sloped at an angle of forty-five 
degrees, it was covered with a flowing sheet of water several 
inches deep, so copious was the fall. The two quiet, silent 
streams which daily wended their way on either side of the 
elevation on which our station was built, were turned into deep 
torrents, which roared as if the bases of the hills were being 
laid bare, and rushed through the valleys with such vehement 
impetuosity that huge trees were torn up by the roots and 
carried out into the distant plains. During the space of half 
an hour the heavens were let loose in such a manner as I have 
never seen since or before in that land of tropical down- 
pours. 

“We could not but see the mighty hand of God in this 
wonderful deliverance. Not only were the multitude of reso- 
lute warriors enfeebled by the drenching torrents, but their 
sinewy bowstrings were thereby rendered useless in discharging 
the poisoned shafts. Realizing that the elements, and probably 
God Himself, were fighting against them, they slunk back in 
a half-dying condition to their booths in the bush.” 


Again, at a later time, after a British protectorate had been 
declared over this region, the savage Akamba were on the war- 
path. A government post, near the mission, had been over- 
whelmed. The officials at the nearest fort urged the mission- 
aries to flee to it for safety. They felt, however, that to flee 
would leave the mission to be destroyed, and all the moral gains 
of past efforts would be lost. So Mr. Watt and his family 
again put themselves under the protection of divine Providence. 
Mrs. Watt savs of the crisis: 

“ That night was a time of inexpressible tension and painful 
suspense. The two infant children were fast asleep, and al- 
though the others had been put to bed in their clothing, they 
were kept awake by the excitement of the hour and the per- 


turbed expression, which we tried to hide, but which they 
readily detected. 


THE ELEMENTS OVERRULED 93 


“ Every possible preparation had been made by my husband, 
with the few men at his disposal, to combat any attack upon 
our station. . . . Having done all that lay within our power 
to enable us to make a momentary show of resistance to the 
savages, we threw ourselves upon God, and prayed that it 
might please Him to defeat and confound the plans of these 
fierce, relentless warriors, and send us deliverance. 

“While thus occupied, we heard an unearthly detonating 
sound overhead, and springing to the door to see what was the 
matter, we found the heavens ablaze with light, and our eyes 
caught sight of a white-hot aérolite of immense proportions 
shooting across the firmament over our station. The gigantic 
fiery ball whizzed through the atmosphere with terrific velocity, 
illuminating the whole country with a lustrous, dazzling glow, 
and leaving behind it a great trail of fire as it disappeared, strik- 
ing a mountain thirty miles distant. 

“The huge meteorite had swept directly over the heads of 
the multitude of warriors, who were struck with such terror 
and mortal dread that they rushed panic-stricken to their homes 
among the hills.” 


Thereafter a great change was seen in the attitude of the 
people toward the mission. The victory had been won. 


TURNING THE RIVER CURRENTS 

While I was visiting the East Bengal district some years ago, 
Evangelist L. G. Mookerjee pointed out to me the old home of 
the late Mathuranath Bose, whose simple faith and trust in God 
led many to call him “the George Muller of Bengal.” His old 
mission station, under the Church of Scotland, still stands close 
along the river bank. This whole region of the delta of the 
mighty Ganges is a marvelous network of rivers and interlacing 
canals. One story of this man of faith was thus told me by 
Mr. Mookerjee: 

“Mr. Bose had formerly been a judge, receiving an excellent 
salary. However, he felt called of God to give himself to mis- 
sion work. His mission station was being threatened by some 
turn of the river current which was cutting into the bank. Day 
after day the current was wearing toward the very buildings. 


Mathuranath Bose felt that it was a case to bring before his 
Lord. He set himself to make earnest prayer to God to stay 


04 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


the course of the waters and save his mission station. The 
answer came. The current was turned; and remarkable to 
recount, the river channel turned in such a way that the silt 
was actually piled up along the bank by the mission premises. 
Gradually the bank was built up again by the heavy deposit 
from the muddy river waters. Even the Hindus all about were 
impressed that God had intervened. They knew of the good 
man’s prayers to the living God, and to this day the heathen say 
that God delivered Mathuranath Bose’s mission from the power 
of the waters.” 


We were told that again and again he was called by the 
villagers to pray for rain upon their fields in time of drouth, 
the Hindus saying that the Christian’s God does, of a truth, 
hear prayer. 

NON-CHRISTIANS PRAY TO JEHOVAH 

In one of the remote valleys of Shantung, one of our 
Chinese evangelists, Mr. Liu, was invited to preach to the 
people by the aged schoolmaster of the village. The account, 


which appeared some years ago in the Far Eastern Division 
Outlook, continues: 


“After the discourse the schoolmaster remarked that now 
it would be most fitting if they all do honor to the great and 
only supreme God. He had been a student of the classics, as 
he said, and there it was stated that the ancients worshiped the 
one supreme God by a solemn ‘ kowtowing’ in the open air. 
He desired that they might revive that most admirable worship. 
And so they spread a mat in the courtyard, and solemnly lined 
up in two lines, elders in front and pupils of the school behind, 
and these forty or fifty people, who never in their lives before 
had worshiped anything but idols, filed forward one by one and 
‘kowtowed ’ the head to the ground three times to the invisible 
God, tendering in the most respectful way known to their race 
their acknowledgment of His authority. 

“ The evangelist, perceiving their sincerity, entered heartily 
into the proceedings, suggesting that they close the ceremony 
with public prayer led by himself. Some of the farmers present 
asked if it would be proper to pray to this invisible God for 
rain, as they had been doing, alas, in vain, for many days to 
their idols. Shantung had had a drouth for three years, and 
the small farmers were reduced to starvation. The wheat this 


THE ELEMENTS OVERRULED 95 


year had already been planted some time, but no rain had yet 
come to make it sprout, and should it not come very soon there 
would be no hope for the poor people but to sell their wives and 
daughters into slavery, and take their sons and go begging. 
The evangelist took the situation by faith, read to them from 
the Bible of Elijah’s experience, and prayed earnestly that God 
would send rain immediately. 

“The meeting closed, and while the evangelist was going 
through the ceremony of taking his departure, the raindrops 
began to fall. A heavy rain followed, soaking the evangelist 
to the skin as he took his way across the fields to a neighboring 
village. ‘ The incident was blazoned through the district,’ wrote 
the missionary in charge, ‘interest in idols and deities waned, 
and many people await a teacher to instruct them in the worship 
of the Christian’s God.’ ” 


DELIVERED BY LIGHTNING 
It was in post-war times in one of those countries of Eastern 
Europe where Protestant separatists from the state church have 
had to endure much. Of one group of Seventh-day Adventists, 
all were arrested and haled before the judge. 
The priests demanded a beating first. The account of an 
evangelist in that region at the time reported: 





“They did beat them — flogged them cruelly — and decided 
they would sentence them the next day. But I want to tell you 
what happened. The judge came home that day, and found 
that every one of his cattle had been killed by lightning! The 
neighbors remarked on it as looking lke a judgment, and con- 
sternation filled his heart. He said, ‘It must be that I am 
sinning against God in sending those people to prison.’ It is a 
serious thing in those countries for a man to lose his cattle; 
it is almost like taking his daily bread. The next morning he 
called that company into the court, discharged them, and asked 
them to pray that the Lord would not further punish him. 
That is the way God sometimes cares for His own.” 


RESCUED FROM BANDITS 
A timely eclipse of the moon was the overruling means of 
deliverance that saved a Chinese lad who later became a winner 
of souls. Not that the eclipse itself was timed for young Keh’s 
rescue. These lunar and solar eclipses were timed from crea- 


96 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


tion, and the circuits of the heavenly bodies have run on through 
the ages with infinite, unvarying precision. But an overruling 
Providence surely timed the crisis in the experience of Keh 
and his father, so that the eclipse spoke the message of deliver- 
ance at exactly the right hour. 





Tientsin Believers 


This group walked eighty miles to attend a general meeting, distributing 
literature and doing street preaching on the way. 


Young Keh’s father was a Christian in a region hostile to 
Christianity. One day the father and his son were seized by 
an armed band and taken into the mountains. The narrative 
is given in Mrs. Emma T. Anderson’s “ A’Chu and Other 
Stories,” as told in later years by Evangelist Keh himself: 


“Forty-nine strong men, armed with knives and firearms, 
entered the village as the sun was setting. Keh Cheng Soan 
stood by the door of his house when three strange-looking men 
passed that way. He greeted them politely, and they paused 
beside his door. As they were talking together, one of the 
men took up the boy Tsu Eng rather roughly in his arms. 


THE ELEMENTS OVERRULED 97 
“*T beg you, do not tease the lad,’ said the father Keh. 
‘These few days he has not been well, and only today has begun 
to get better.’ 

“These words had scarcely passed his lips when the whole 
armed band dashed into sight. Seizing both father and child, 
they hurried to get away. 

“ Mrs. Keh was inside, preparing the evening meal, when 
the scuffle of feet and the loud tones of strange voices drew 
her to the door in time to see the angry mob seize her husband 
and child. At the risk of her own life she dashed into their 
midst to rescue her child, but the men threatened her with their 
swords and drove her back into the house. In the tumult of 
rebellion there was not a soul to hear her cry, so the helpless 
woman gathered her remaining children with her into the house 
to pray. 

“That evening Evangelist Keh Cheng Soan and his eight- 
year-old son, Tsu Eng, were taken to the neighboring village, 
where they were locked in a dark room alone for the night. 
Next morning the captives were told that a great army was to 
be raised, and when all the towns and cities of the surrounding 
country had surrendered to the rebels, they would celebrate 
their victory by sacrificing the Christian preacher and his son 
on the mountain top before their flag. This threat was repeated 
over and over to the victims for three days in succession. 

“Shut up in the dark room, with no way of escape, the cap- 
tives were not alone. In telling this incident, which he still well 
remembers, Pastor Keh Nga Pit [Tsu Eng] said, ‘ My father 
prayed day and night, beseeching God to open the way before 
us, to hear our prayers and deliver us from our enemies. He 
often spoke to me, “‘ Son, fear not. Our heavenly Father is able 
to save us. Only believe, and do not doubt His promises.” ’ 

“On the evening of the third day, being the fifteenth day 
of the Chinese month, the moon came up beautiful and bright. 
The rebels were in high spirits, and all the inhabitants of the 
village, both grown people and children, came out into the 
moonlight, and gave themselves up to merrymaking, with wild 
dancing and playing. 

“In the midst of their gayeties, suddenly a strange dark 
shadow began to creep across the moon. ‘An evil omen!’ 
hoarsely whispered the old men. They had planned a great war 
of rebellion that would throw the yoke of foreign [Manchu] 
rule from off the neck of the Chinese people, and exalt their 


~ 


/ 


98 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


native village to be the very capital of the empire. Now, lo, 
at the very beginning, the Lord of heaven and earth showed 
His displeasure with them by darkening the moon. 

“An order was given to bring the drums at once. All the 
gongs to be found in the village and all the drums that could 
be mustered were brought and beaten violently to save the moon. 
But the dark shadow crept silently on. The people were terri- 


0 eae me hen ero: 





Natives of East Africa Bringing in the Lord’s Tithe to the Kamagambo Mission 


fied at the sight, and in the darkness groped their way back to 
their homes. They were filled with fear of a terrible punish- 
ment to be visited upon their wrong-doings. 

‘’ However, the eclipse passed over before midnight. Then 
the people cooked the small lunch customarily served at night 
on such occasions, and refreshed themselves. 

Up tosthis time the rebels had been very cruel to their 
Christian cap tives. ‘Formerly they threatened to kill us,’ said 
Pastor Keh; ‘ now they were changed, and begged us to eat with 
them the lunch they had prepared. Afterward they urgently 
besought my father to leave their village, and return to his home. 
On the seventeenth day, five days after our capture, they hired 


THE ELEMENTS OVERRULED oF 
€ 
a comfortable sedan chair, and carried us home with a large 
escort of people.’ 
“In closing the recital of this incident, he said, ‘ This is an 
experience I myself passed through when only eight years of 
age. Does not this plainly show that the true God hears and 


ay hae) 


answers the pravers of His people: 


Aten ei AS le GASP 


A missionary in equatorial ast Africa had traveled to the 
limit of endurance without water. His African boys could no 
longer lift him in the machilla (a hammock swung on a pole 
to be carried on the shoulders). They were weak with thirst. 
The missionary, Mr. Stuart Watt, had sent two or three men 
forward with empty water bottles to reach the nearest water 
twenty miles on, while he and the men with the luggage were 
trying by short stages to meet them as far along as possible on 
their return. But long before this meeting, Mr. Watt was 
“at the last gasp.” His story of deliverance is quoted by 
Mrs. Watt, in her book, “In the Heart of Savagedom: ”’ 


“ At last I realized that the climax had come. To the native 
who kept close by me all the time, I said as plainly as I could, 
‘Sudi, I can go no farther. If the men do not bring water here, 
I die.’ I threw myself down under the partial shade which a 
great baobab tree afforded, and stretching out my hands to the 
burning heavens, I prayed to God for one drop of rain to coo! 
my feverish body. 

“ While I was praying, a little cloud appeared in the heavens. 
Borne by some God-directed current, it came directly over 
where I was lying, and instantly there fell a few big heavy drops. 
My vest I pulled wide open, so that they might fall on my heated 
breast. The drops increased in number until there was a little 
shower of rain. I opened my mouth and thrust out my tongue 
to catch the precious fluid. 

“In about five minutes or less the cloud was spent, but I 
was revived. My undervest and pants were quite wet on one 
side. I got up and felt greatly strengthened. I said to Sudi, 
‘Do you see what God has done for us?’ ‘ Yes, master, I see it,’ 
came his response. I was then enabled to proceed in short 
stages all the afternoon until sundown, when I met my two 
faithful porters laden with their water vessels.” 





@ W. L. Haskell 


DAVID LIVINGSTONE 
Pioneer Missionary and Explorer in Central Africa 


100 


“ In the Wilderness i 


“They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary 
way; they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and 
thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they 
cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He de- 
livered them out of their distresses. And He led 
them forth by the right way.” Psalms 107: 4-7. 


THE UNUSUAL HALT 


In her book of missionary experiences in equatorial East 
Africa, “In the Heart of Savagedom,” Mrs. Stuart Watt tells 
how they recognized the special providence of God in an un- 
usual halt of their carriers and party that was irregularly called 
one midday. Regularly, on the journey to their field, they had 
pushed on with the caravan without stopping at noon; but this 
time the missionary children were so hungry they stopped, a 
fire was kindled, and lunch partaken of. This was in the 
country of the Masai, fiercest and most feared of East African 
warriors at that time. Mrs. Watt explains the sequel: 


“We had little idea of what was happening at that moment 
in the forest, within thirty or forty minutes’ reach of where we 
sat; but on that afternoon there was brought very vividly before 
our minds one of the many marvelous providences of God. 

“We were soon on the move once again in a drenching 
thunder shower. After we had proceeded for some time through 
the forest, our kilangozi [guide] suddenly stopped the forward 
part of the caravan, and sent a hasty message for my husband 
to come up. When we arrived at the place where the men 
were standing, we found them all in an evident state of ex- 
citement, giving vent to suppressed ejaculations of ‘ Masai! 
Masai!’ 

“Tt was plain to be seen that a numerous body of these 
plundering warriors had crossed our path after the recent 
thunder shower, for their tracks had been made in the sand 
since the rain had fallen. Their numbers were large, probably 


101 


102 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


one thousand strong, for an exceedingly wide trail was beaten 
down in the forest by their multitudinous footprints. . 
“On that particular day we had been providentially led to 
make a fire and boil the kettle,— quite an unusual thing with 
us on the march,— and were thus delayed half an hour or more. 
Had it not been for this detention, our feeble caravan would 





Traveling in East Belgian Congo 


have met them in the teeth, and, in all human probability, we 
should have been murdered to a man by these fierce and blood- 
thirsty marauders.” 


FINDING THE BULLOCKS 

In the Old Testament story, Saul, the Benjamite, was not 
above seeking aid of the prophet Samuel in his search for the 
lost animals belonging to his father, Kish. Here is the story 
of a missionary in Burma who prayed for help in finding the 
mission’s lost bullocks. It was in the Taungthu hills of upper 
Burma that Missionary H. A. Skinner, of our Southern Asia 
Division, felt that God guided the search that evening: 

“T was camping with four native lads about me, and we 
kept our cart bullocks tethered for safety, but the lad who had 


charge of the animals grew careless, and loosed them while we 
were engaged in evening worship. ‘ 


“IN THE WILDERNESS ’”’ 103 


“ About 8 p. M. I noticed that the two animals were gone, 
and asked the lad what he had done with them. Then he re- 
membered that he had loosed them and forgotten to tether them 
again. We went out in five different directions, searching for 
them. But though we hunted high and low through the jungles 
and over the leopard-infested hills, we could not find the bul- 





The Bullock Cart of Burma 


locks. We all found our way to camp again after a while, and 
said, ‘ We must try once more.’ 

“Starting out alone, I went about a quarter of a mile from 
the camp, and stopped to listen for some sound of the lost cattle. 
Then falling upon my knees there in the wet grass, I asked the 
Lord to help us find those animals, as the work was His, and 
1 was His, and I was out there in that wild place, not to please 
myself, but Him. 

“We had arranged that the man who found the animals 
should shout, so that the rest would know, and not continue 
the search. As I arose from my knees and stood listening, | 
heard a shout from a hilltop not far away. Ko Hpo Shein, 
the one Buddhist lad of my party, had found the bullocks. 

“When we all got back into camp, Ko Hpo Shein said: 
“As I was going to the left of that hill, something seemed to 
urge me to turn to the right, but I went straight on, going 
toward the village. Again I was impressed to turn to the right, 


104 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


and this time the impression was so strong that I did so, and 
reaching the top of the hill, came right upon the two builocks 
lying in the tall weeds.’ When the boy had finished his story, 
I told mine, and he exclaimed at once, ‘I turned to the right 
because you were praying to your God!’ 

“O, what a kind and loving Master is our Father! How 
tenderly He watches over us, keeping in all their ways them 
that put their trust in Him!” 


SUCCORED IN THE ‘‘ THIRST COUNTRY ” 


In his book, “Twenty Years in Khama’s Country,” J. D. 
Hepburn, one of the pioneers of African missions, told how 
prayer brought deliverance to him when he was exhausted in 
the “thirst country,” as the land was called south of Lake 
Ngami. 

He had been traveling through the tsetse fly belt, where it 
was difficult to get through with cattle. Word came to the 
wagons that some of their loose cattle had been lost. Mr. 
Hepburn turned back.to try to find them, for no mission station 
in those remote times could afford to meet with the loss of 
cattle. Burning with fever and weak as he was, he started the 
search, leaving his wife and the native teacher, Khukwe, to 
urge the wagons along. The missionary prayed as he went. 
He says: 


“ God heard and helped me, for all the lost oxen were found 
together, and were got out of the district without being bitten 
by a single fly. 

“The sun rose on me mith not a bit of pith left in my bones, 
plowing my way back again to the wagons. 

“ Stopping under the shade of a tree, I stripped off all my 
extra clothing, which I had put on for the cold night. Then 
I tried it again. At last my tongue was parched, and my legs 
refused to move, and I dropped down upon the sand, weary, 
and wishing for water. 

“Faint with want of food, and perspiring at every pore, 
I tried again, and again I lay down to rest. 

“*©O God, my heavenly Father, send some one with a bottle 


of water and a little br ead,’ was my praver, uttered in deep 
distress.’ 


“IN THE WILDERNESS ”’ 105 


This was all long years ago, before ever the wireless and 
the radio were heard of; but ever since the lost race of Adam 
began to call for help, Christian believers have known very well 
that messages sent up by lips of prayer have found answer in 
heaven, bringing help when such deliverance would redound 
to the glory of God. Mr. Hepburn says of the answer to his 
prayer: 


“ Khukwe was driving his wagon all night himself, because 
his driver was too lazy to do it, and wanted to sleep. He out- 
spanned his wagon, and white with sand dust, went to say 
good morning to my wife. 

““Did you see Monare [Hepburn], Khukwe?’ 

bey CSueViissescy Lusaw him, ) its far, very tar .to. the. 
cattle.’ 

““But what can we do, Khukwe? He has nothing to eat, 
and no water, and he’s sick too. Who is there that can be sent 
back again?’ 

““Me, Missese; I'll go back.’ 

“And so, with a bottle of tea and a bottle of water slung 
one over each shoulder, and a little bread, he returned in answer 
to my prayer. 

“No need to envy those who can explain away all these 
things by natural laws and chance. If it is a delusion, it is then 
a very happy one to believe, as I must do,—there is no help 
for me,— that a kind heavenly Father is about my path, and 
that a tender, loving eye is ever beholding me with affectionate 
regard. 

“But these things are almost too sacred to be spoken or 
written about, and yet it is unkind to keep them back. 

“Aye, Khukwe, there is One, not I, who will reward you 
for that cup of cold water which you carried, travel-worn, 
weary, and dust-whitened as you were, back into the tsetse fly 
region.” 

PRAYER FOUND THE WAY 

Speaking of an experience of many vears before, Colporteur 
Reekie, a veteran in gospel service in the “back blocks” of 
Australia, told how prayer found the way out of a difficulty 
in the wilds. The very simplicity. of the solution led him to 
see more clearly the Lord’s answer to prayer. He says: 


106 MIRACLES OF MODERN’ MISSIONS 


“T was in West Australia at the time, working with a horse 
and cart. The cart had turned over, and I could not get it 
turned fully back. I had exhausted every device I knew, but 
in vain. And it was a Friday afternoon. I decided I would 
have to take my horse and go for help to the nearest house, 
which was five miles or more back. As I rode along, the thought 
came to me, ‘ God helps those who need His help; why should 
I not ask Him to help me get that cart turned over?’ 

“T got off the horse and turned aside into the bush and 
prayed. After the prayer I felt impressed to go back to the 
cart and try again. 

“T turned back, and just as I got in sight of the overturned 
cart, it flashed into my mind what to do —to hitch the horse 
onto the side of the cart in such a way as to pull it over. 
Quickly it was done; and I arrived at my stopping place in 
time for the Sabbath. | 

“Now I had studied and thought before as I worked at the 
overturned cart. When the way out came to me, it was so 
simple I could not understand why I had not thought of it at 
the first. I believe the Lord kept me from seeing the way in 
order to teach me that He could help and guide, even in these 
lesser troubles in which we are so apt to think there is no way 
but to go at them and solve the difficulties ourselves.” 


AN ACCIDENT THAT SAVED LIVINGSTONE 


As the chosen agent of Providence for the opening of the 
Dark Continent, Livingstone was preserved amid many perils, 
to die at last on his knees in the little hut at Ilala. It is evident 
that the whole life and work of Livingstone and the circum- 
stances of his death were overruled to turn attention at the 
right time to the vast African interior and to start the currents 
of commerce and missions which have opened the way of access 
to the hundreds of tribes and tongues before practically un- 
known. 

All this adds interest and meaning to the story of Living- 
stone’s narrow escape from death in the rapids of the Zambesi. 
The story was told to that prince of missionary biographers, 
Mr. Basil Mathews, by Sir John Kirk, who was the companion 
of Livingstone in his later explorations of the Zambesi. Living- 


“IN. THE WILDERNESS ” 107 


stone and Sir John were traveling by canoes down the river 
below Victoria Falls. Sir John Kirk said: 
‘““My canoe was leading, and Livingstone was in the canoe 


behind. The deep stream moved slowly. Suddenly there was 
an amazing swirl from below, which caught my canoe and 





Rapids of the Zambesi River 


turned it over against a rock. The swirl came like a mound 
of water, as though a huge hippopotamus had risen. 

“T shouted to Livingstone to keep back. My canoe was 
turned upside down, and all my notes, instruments, sketches, 
and specimens were carried away, never to be seen again. 
Fortunately the swirl of the water set continuously against the 
rock, keeping both the canoe and myself there, otherwise I 
should have been drowned. The current dragged at my legs 
so violently that I thought a crocodile must have got them. 
Livingstone put back, landed, and pulled me out by ropes. We 
then found the previously unknown Kebrabasa Rapids were 
ahead. 


108 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


‘“We could not take our cannes overland, nor navigate them 
down these terrific rapids. Then the men let the canoes go. 
ne went over the rapids and down, down under the water. 
We never saw it rise again. Another went down and shot up 
again into the air, split in two from stem to stern. 

“Tf the accident of overturning the canoe had not happened 
to me, we should all have been swept over the rapids, and 
nothing more would ever have been heard of us, for no trace 
of us could have been left, nor would any of our men have 
survived to tell the story.” 


Mr. Mathews says that as he strolled in Sir John Kirk’s 
garden, he noticed as an ornament the great skull of a hippo- 
potamus, and spoke of it to Sir John. 


“Yes,” he said, stopping before the hippopotamus and lifting 
its enormous upper jaw until the huge head resembled a cavern, 
“T think I am the only man who has had his thigh between 
the jaws of a hippopotamus and escaped! 

“Livingstone and I were traveling in boats up the Shire. 
I was lying back in the gunwale, steering, and taking little 
notice of anything save to keep the boat from running into a 
bunch of reeds. I allowed my leg to rest carelessly along the 
edge of the boat. 

“Suddenly a bucketful of water was hurled into the boat 
by the rising snout of a hippopotamus. He opened his enormous 
jaws —the lower jaw under the boat, the upper over my leg. 
Had he closed his jaws, he would have crushed the boat and 
carried away my leg, but for some mysterious reason he turned 
and dived. We never saw him again. 

“One of our Makololo men turned to me and said of the 
deliverance, ‘It is God’s providence only!’ ”’ 


A PROVIDENTIAL LIFT ON THE PRAIRIE 


Distances were often long in Western Canada for the 
Christian colporteur on his rounds among the pioneer settlers 
of earlier days. Colporteur James, then of Alberta, recounted 
this experience: 

“TI was on my way by train to visit a family that lived twelve 
miles east of the railway. As the train slowed up at the station, 


I remember very distinctly this short prayer was heart-breathed : 
‘Lord, if it is for my good and will glorify Thee, provide a 


“IN THE WILDERNESS ” 109 


way that I need not walk; but if it is best, | am willing to walk.’ 

“It was a bright Sunday morning, and as I stepped from 
the train, my eyes at once scanned the street for signs of an 
answer to my prayer. Down the street stood a team of ponies 
hitched to a buggy. Since faith must work, I made for the 
sign, and found a man untying the team. 

“To my question, ‘Do you know of any one going a few 
miles east this morning?’ he replied, ‘ A friend and I are going 
right now, and you may ride, if that suits you.’ 

‘“A question as to the nature of my work turned the con- 
versation at once to religious themes. He made light of the 
thought that God has any work for us or has anything to do 
with our plans; and if such a Being exists, He has left us to 
shift for ourselves. Thus the question was discussed mile after 
mile, but Bible proof and personal experiences failed to touch 
his heart. 

“At last I thought of my prayer, and how God had planned 
this very ride I was taking. The impression came to tell this 
experience, but another voice said, ‘ He will only scoff at such 
a thing.’ Then came the reminder, ‘God gave you this ride, 
not alone for your good, but for the good of this man, that 
God may be glorified. Tell it, for | have blessed thee that thou 
mightest be a blessing.’ 

“Then I told those men that I believed God was interested 
in all our needs, and how I had asked the Lord to provide a 
ride for me if it was best, as I had a large bag of books to 
carry out to Mr. Ricks’ place. 

“ With a surprised look the man said, ‘That is the very 
place we are going.’ 

“*Do you think it just happened,’ said I, ‘that I found you 
going out this way? and did it just happen that you are going 
to the very house I desire to reach, when there are hundreds 
of other homes all around here?’ 

“Instead of scoffing, he replied, ‘It certainly looks as if 
God did answer your prayer, and has something to do with 
our plans, for we didn’t plan this.’ 

“His whole attitude changed as he realized that God had 
used him to answer my prayer. But suppose I had failed to 
tell him! God will answer the prayer that has in mind the 
second blessing, even as Jesus said, ‘Father, . . . glorify Thy 
Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee.’ ”’ 


Supplied in Time of Need 


“Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth 
for you.” 1 Peter 5:7. 


PATON’S WELL ON SAVAGE ANIWA 


Ir was more than disappointment over failure to get water 
that John G. Paton risked when he determined, in the name of 
God, to sink the first well ever put down on savage Aniwa, in 
the New Hebrides Islands. He risked loss of all the prestige 
he had gained even among those becoming friendly to the mis- 
sion. But the rains were all too scanty. The one water hole 
of the village was low. The sacred witch men were using the 
fact as evidence that the gods were angry with the people for 
listening to the new teaching. And any time, at their malicious 
whim, the missionary might be forbidden to take supplies from 
the holes where they gathered the rain water. 

Mr. Paton felt that he must try for a well. In that famed 
and blessed book, “‘ Autobiography of John G. Paton,” he tells 
the story of this search for what was truly “living water: ”’ 


“One morning I said to the old chief and his fellow chief, 
both now earnestly inquiring about the religion of Jehovah and 
of Jesus, ‘I am going to sink a deep well down into the earth, 
to see if our God will send us fresh water up from below.’ 

“They looked at me with astonishment, and said in tones 
of sympathy approaching pity, “O Missi! wait till the rain 
comes down, and we will save all we possibly can for you.’ 

“T replied, ‘ We may all die for lack of water. If no fresh 
water can be got, we may be forced to leave you.’ 

‘“ The old chief looked imploringly and said, ‘O Missi! you 
must not leave us for that. Rain comes only from above. How 
could you expect our island to send up showers of rain from 
below ?’ 

“I told him, ‘Fresh water does come up springing from 
the earth in my land at home, and I hope to see it here also.’ 

110 


SUPPLIED IN TIME OF NEED Hot 


“The old chief grew more tender in his tones, and cried, 
“O Missi, your head is going wrong; you are losing something, 
See ; 
or you would not talk wild like that! Don’t let our people hear 
you talking about going down into the earth for rain, or they 
will never listen to your word or believe you again.’ ”’ 


However, Mr. Paton got together ladder and ropes and 
shovel and pickax, and went to work, trusting God to guide 





Sabbath School in the New Hebrides 
Showing the Sabbath School Picture Roll to the people of the Big Nambus tribe 


him in sinking the shaft at the right place; for failure to strike 
water the first time would be a calamity. With fishhooks he 
bought the reluctant service of native helpers to take out the 
earth as he dug away. He had reached a depth of thirty feet. 
Now, he says, 

“The phrase ‘living water,’ ‘living water,’ kept chiming 
through my soul like music from God as I dug and hammered 
away ! 

“At this depth the earth and coral began to be soaked with 
damp. I felt that we were nearing water. My soul had a faith 


ay MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


that God would open a spring for us; but side by side with this 
faith was a strange terror that the water would be salt. So 
perplexing and mixed are even the highest experiences of the 
soul, the rose-flower of a perfect faith set round and round with 
prickly thorns. 

‘““One evening I said to the old chief, ‘I think that Jehovah 
God will give us water tomorrow from that hole!’ 

“The chief said, ‘ No, Missi; you will never see rain coming 
up from the earth on this island. We wonder what is to be the 
end of this mad work of yours. We expect daily, if you reach 
water, to see you drop through into the sea, and the sharks will 
eat you! That will be the end of it — death to you, and danger 
to us all!’ 

“T still answered. ‘Come tomorrow. I hope and believe 
that Jehovah God will send you the rain water up through the 
earth. 

“At the moment I knew that I was risking much, and 
probably incurring sorrowful consequences, had no water been 
given; but I had faith that the Lord was leading me on, and 
I knew that [ sought His glory, not my own. 

“Next morning I went down again at daybreak, and sank 
a narrow hole in the center, about two feet deep. The per- 
spiration broke over me with uncontrollable excitement, and 
I trembled through every limb, when the water rushed up and 
began to fill the hole. Muddy though it was, I eagerly tasted it. 
lapping it with my trembling hand; and then I almost fell 
upon my knees in that muddy bottom as my heart burst up in 
praise to the Lord. 

“It was water! It was fresh water! It was living water 
from Jehovah’s well! No spring in the desert, cooling the 
parched lips of a fevered pilgrim, ever appeared more worthy 
of being called a ‘ well of God’ than did that water to me!” 


The faces of the Aniwans above at the top of the well 
expressed still their incredulity. Then a jug was filled and 
brought up. Mr. Paton wrote: 


“The old chief shook it to see if it would spill, and then 
touched it to see if it felt like water. At last he tasted it, and 
rolling it in his mouth with joy a moment, he swallowed it, 
and shouted, “Rain! Rain! Yes, it is rain! But how did 
you get it?’ 


SUPPLIED IN TIME OF NEED 113 


‘“ T repeated, ‘ Jehovah my God gave it out of His own earth 
in answer to our prayers and labors. Go and see it springing 
up for yourselves.’ ” 


Then others tried to dig wells. They, too, would find the 
water in the earth. Here and there wells were sunk. Explain 
it as one may, the fact was that nowhere else did they find 
water. The missionary had apparently been guided at his first 
venture to the one spot in the village where the water waited 
for its finder. The chief said, 


“Missi not only used pick and spade, but he prayed and 
cried to his God. We have learned to dig, but not how to pray, 
and therefore Jehovah will not give us rain from below!” 


It was a message from God that the well preached on Aniwa. 
Mr. Paton tells how Chief Namakei begged to be allowed to 
preach a sermon about the well on the next meeting day. We 
ought to quote a portion of the sermon as a sequel to the story 
of this well. All the island came to the meeting. The cannibal 
chief was excited. He flourished his tomahawk, says Paton, 
and launched into his first sermon: 


“Friends of Namakei, men and women and children of 
Aniwa, listen to my words! Since Missi came here, he has 
talked many things we could not understand — things all too 
wonderful; and we said regarding many of them that they 
must be lies. White people might believe such nonsense, but 
we said that the black fellow knéw better than to receive it. 

‘“ But of all his wonderful stories, we thought the strangest 
was about sinking down through the earth to get rain! Then 
we said to each other, ‘ The man’s head is turned; he’s gone 
mad.’ But the Missi prayed on and wrought on, telling us that 
Jehovah God heard and saw, and that his God would give him 
rain. Was he mad? Has he not got the rain deep down in 
the earth? We mocked at him; but the water was there all the 
same. We have laughed at other things which the Missi told 
us, because we could not see them. But from this day I believe 
that all he tells us about his Jehovah God is true. Some day 
our eyes will see it. For today we have seen the rain from 
Prpacdartiien.t.<J 0: 

“Something here in my heart [beating his breast] tells me 
that the Jehovah God does exist, the Invisible One, whom we 


8 


114 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


never heard of nor saw till the Missi brought Him to our 
knowledge. . . . From this day, my people, I must worship 
the God who has opened for us the well, and who fills us with 
rain from below. The gods of Aniwa cannot hear, cannot help 
us, like the God of Missi. Henceforth I am a follower of 
Jehovah God. | 

“Let every man that thinks with me go now and fetch the 
idols of Aniwa, the gods which our fathers feared, and cast 
them down at Missi’s feet. Let us burn and destroy these things 
of wood and stone, and let us be taught by the Missi how to 
serve the God who can hear, the Jehovah who gave us the well, 
and who will give us every other blessing, for He sent His Son 
Jesus to die for us and bring us to heaven. 

“This is what Missi has been telling us every day since 
he landed on Aniwa. We laughed at him, but now we believe 
him. The Jehovah God has sent us rain from the earth. Why 
should He not also send us His Son from heaven? Namakei 
stands up for Jehovah!” 


The lesson of the well and the declaration of the chief broke 
the back of heathenism in Aniwa, says Mr. Paton. That very 
day the people began to bring in their idols to be burned or cast 
into the sea. 


THE MONEY BY POST 


Out of the war-stricken regions of Eastern Europe, in the 
days following the war, came stories of many a struggle of 
Protestant believers to keep going in the midst of universal 
distress, and with the hostility of feeling against Protestants 
in some sections. One such family had run out of food. Work 
had seemed unobtainable. The parents and children were ac- 
tually in extremity of need. The story was told by President 
L. H. Christian, of the European Division: 

“The father was praying one morning, with his wife and 
children. They were suffering the pangs of starvation, and they 
turned to God in prayer as their only hope. 

“ As the father prayed this morning, he seemed to hear a 
voice saying, ‘If you have faith, you will be saved.’ 

“ He took it as an assurance of deliverance, and the family 
thanked God that He had heard their cry. 


SUPPLIED IN TIME OF NEED 115 


“Just a little later the mail carrier came to their door with 
a letter. The letter was opened, and it was found that only 
money was inclosed. Who it was from they knew not. But 
there was money for their immediate need. It saved them from 
threatened starvation, and tided them over until they were able 
to find ways of earning a livelihood again amidst the desolations 
that the war had left in its wake. I know the facts, for I saw 
the family only a few weeks ago. 

“Some time later the father attended’ a meeting held near 
his home. He there told of his experience, to the glory of God, 
and added, ‘I should like to meet the one who sent me that 
money.’ 

“ There was a man present who then stood up and said, 
“I sent that letter. I sent it before I became an Adventist 
believer. One night in a dream an envelope, addressed with 
name and place, was held before me, and a voice commanded, 
“Put so much money in this envelope, and send it to that man! ”’ 
I did not know who the man was,’ he continued, ‘and I never 
had heard of the place. But it was so clear and commanding an 
experience that next morning, as I awoke, I felt I must obey. 
I addressed an envelope as I had seen it in the dream, I put the 
money in it, and dropped it into the post. After I had done it, 
it seemed so unreasonable a thing for me to do that I feared I 
might really be losing my mind. But it was done, and I could 
notenecal tity 


Soon afterward the man who sent the money was visited 
by a colporteur who sold him a book that led him into the light. 
Hearing of the meeting to be held, he had come to thank 
God for the light that the open Bible had brought into his life; 
and there he heard the story of the man to whom he had 
sent the money, not knowing what he was doing, save that God 
called him to do it. It was a happy meeting between the 
two men. 

‘“THE LORD WILL PROVIDE ” 

This promise, the basis of Christian confidence through the 
ages, was the trust of a band of pioneer Seventh-day Adventists 
in the early days of our work in the Argentine, South America. 
They were colonists from Switzerland, working on rented lands. 
Because of drouth and locusts, they moved to a new region, in 


116 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


Santa Fé Province, and were struggling with indebtedness in 
getting a new start. 

In those times, in Latin countries, Protestants were the 
target for scorn and persecution in Catholic communities gen- 
erally. Missionary F. H. Westphal, pioneer of Seventh-day 





Argentine Training School 


Adventist missions in South America, told of one of the ex- 
periences of these colonists. He wrote in the year 1900: 


“The harvest was fairly good. They intended to free them- 
selves from all indebtedness; but a spirit of persecution arose, 
and one Sabbath while they were at meeting, their grain was all 
taken away, save a few sacks fit only for chicken feed. A large 
notice left with those sacks read: ‘ Now the Lord care for you!’ 
And the Lord did care for them. He provided them (unexpect- 
edly) with an abundance of work among the Jews of Moises- 
ville, and enabled them to witness so truly to the truth that a 
family in Palacios accepted it, one member later being elder of 
the church.” 


This reply of Providence to the mockery of unbelief finds 
its exact counterpart ina story of earlier times in Europe. This 
narrative, from “‘ The Preacher’s Homiletic Commentary,” may 
therefore well be included here, though strictly not a story of 
missions : 


SUPPLIED IN TIME OF NEED 117 


“A mill owner was obliged to dismiss several of his hands. 
Among them was a man whose faith and trust in God always 
led him to say, ‘The Lord will provide.’ One day when he 
had eaten his last morsel of food and his faith was tried to the 
utmost, some street boys, opening his door, flung in a dead 
raven, shouting mockingly, ‘The Lord will provide!’ He 
quietly took up the dead bird and tenderly stroked its plumage. 
Suddenly he felt something hard in the crop of the bird, and 
wondering what it was, he took a knife and opened it. To his 
amazement he found there a gold chain. He felt here was God 
providing for him and his family. He went straight to a jeweler, 
telling his story, and asked if he would buy it. The jeweler saw 
it to be a chain of great value, with initials on it, and said: 

““Tf you could learn the name of the owner, would you 
return it?’ 

“ Certainly,’ replied the workman. 

“*Well, then,’ said the jeweler, ‘it belongs to your late 
master.’ 

“ Hearing that, the man set off without delay, and put the 
chain into his master’s hands, who received it with great joy, 
as he had on missing it accused one of his servants of theft. — 
Greatly struck with his workman’s honesty, he told him he 
wished him to return to his employment, as he could not part 
with so honest a man.” 


GUIDED ARIGHT 

He was a Chefoo cook, not yet a full Christian. But the 
influence of Miss Louisa Vaughn, for whom he worked, had 
led him to believe in the living God. Just then the wanderlust 
seized Sao Si Fu, and he determined to sail with a party cross- © 
ing the Yellow Sea to Port Arthur. Miss Vaughn prayed God 
to keep him from going to that place, then so full of evil ad- 
venturers. But the cook left. He had been gone three weeks 
when one morning some one said to Miss Vaughn, “ Do you 
know your cook has returned?” She says her heart sang 
for joy. 

Soon Sao Si Fu, repentant, came to the mission to tell his 
story. The party he sailed with were off Port Arthur, already 
watching the animated life on the water front, when a storm 
came up and drove them back. They despaired of life, but 


118 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


reached Weihaiwei. There they waited for a favorable wind. 
Just as they were to set sail, the shipmen sent the cook to a 
shop to buy something. Then they made off, and the poor lad 
returned to the dock to see them sailing away with his bag and 
all his possessions. Miss Vaughn tells his story in her little 
book, “‘ Answered or Unanswered: ” 


“Despair seized me. I wept! I called! I begged other 
boatmen to overtake them, but in vain. I had no money, and 
they knew it. Blinded by my tears, staggering like an old man, 
I made my way up the street. It was then the Holy Spirit 
reminded me of you, Han Ku Mang. In any calamity, you 
always prayed. 

“Lord, help me!’ I cried, as I walked along and wept. 
Suddenly I remembered a friend’s son who lived in Weihaiwei. 
Continuing, I besought the Lord to let me find Tswang-I-Nien’s 
son, the friend who lived here. This petition I kept repeating 
as I made my way up the street. 

“In the distance I saw a peddler carrying his pack. Oh, 
[ thought, he will know all people, and where they live. I shall 
ask him for information. Accosting him, I ventured, after 
Oriental etiquette had been satisfied, to inquire if he knew a 
man called Tswang, the son of a cook in Chefoo, one who lived 
many years in the mission compound on Temple Hill. 

““What is your business with him, may I ask?’ said the 
peddler. 

““T am in great trouble,’ I answered, ‘and I seek his help. 
[f you can give me any information, give it to me, for I must 
die if I do not find some one to help me.’ 

‘“ Strange, indeed,’ said the peddler, ‘it should be so. I 
am the man you seek! The son of Tswang-I-Nien of Chefoo, 
Nan Lo, Temple Hill. What can I do for you?’ ” 


So Sao Si Fu found a friendly helper, earned money to 
return to the mission, a repentant believer in the living God, 
and later became a church leader. 


THE BAG OF FLOUR 


Again, from out the war-torn regions of Eastern Europe, 
comes a story of deliverance in those distressful post-war times. 
Pastor L. H. Christian, of Europe, once reported : 


SUPPLIED IN 'TIME OF- NEED 119 


‘A man whom I knew, and his family, were starving. They 
had not had a bite to eat for two days and a half. Then they 
saw a miserly man, a man whom they knew never would sell 
flour unless he received a very high price, hurrying up with his 
little cart. He pulled out a sack of flour, threw it on his 
shoulder, and rushed up to the house and set it down, then 
hastened out as fast as he could. The father rushed out after 
him and said, ‘ What do you mean? What about the flour?’ 

“The man replied, ‘I don’t know what I mean. I had 
planned to sell the flour, but have not had any peace for two 
days. I couldn’t sleep at night. I had to come, I don’t know 
why, and put the flour outside your kitchen.’ 

“So the family thanked God, and were saved.” 


The story is similar to one told of the year 1847, known as 
the “hunger year”’ in southern Germany. It is recorded by 
a German writer, Fr. Schwenker, in a little book entitled, 
“Das Gebet” (Prayer), published years ago in Leipzig. The 
writer says: 


“In the hunger year of 1847, there lived in the neighbor- 
hood of Heilbronn a pious man who, one early morning hour, 
could find no rest. A voice called to him, “ You are to take a 
bag of meal, and go forth with it. There are many who have 
nothing to eat, and the Lord will show you what you should do.’ 

‘“ He placed the bag of meal upon a wheelbarrow, and started 
forth. He pushed on, however, through the first village, be- 
cause there seemed no indication that he should turn in at any 
house. Even so he passed through a second village, and an- 
other, until he passed the fourth. Weary, he now came at 
evening to Heilbronn. 

“ Suddenly, as he came to a high house, it was said to him, 
“Theré it is! ? 

“On the first floor and on the second story lived well-to-do 
people. At last, when he reached the top, he said to himself, 
“Here it must be,’ and he pushed a door open, set the sack of 
meal inside, saying aloud, ‘ This the Lord sends to you!’ With- 
out waiting, he went on his way. 

“Tn that room as he spoke, a widow was upon her knees, 
with. seven children about her, suffering with hunger almost 
to. the death. And she was praying, ‘O Lord, today only have 
a,.care-for ts...- 


120 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


Thus over the long road was relief sent to the right place, 
just at the time of need. ‘“ Whoso is wise, and will observe 
these things, even they shall understand the loving-kindness of 
the Lord.” Ps. 107: 43. 


HOW MONEY FOR THE FARE CAME 


In a little book, “On Muleback Through Central America,” 
Mrs. Mattie Crawford tells how money came in time for her 
and her husband to take the boat homeward, after a trip through 
Nicaragua, scattering Scripture portions. As they prayed, they 
had felt constrained not to wait in the interior town (where 
they had lived) for the next mail, but to go to the port. The 
boat they hoped to take was due to sail next day. Mrs. Craw- 
ford says: 

‘We made ready to leave on that boat, but there was no 
money for the fare. As I prayed in my room one morning, 
the Lord said, ‘Go and ask for your mail.’ I thought, ‘I don’t 
believe the mail is opened here, but on arriving, the post is 
immediately sent to different parts of the country.’ But as | 
prayed again, the Lord spoke once more, “ Go and ask for your 
mail.’ I knew it was the voice of the Lord, for He had wonder- 
fully spoken to us all the way; so 1 went. On asking for the 
mail, I was told that no mail was coming for two weeks, and 
when it did come, it would not be opened there, but would be 
sent out to the different parts of the republic.” 

Meanwhile the sailing of their boat was postponed for a 
day or two. Next morning they saw a new ship coming in. 
On inquiry, they learned it was an unexpected mail-boat arrival. 
Mrs. Crawford hastened again to the postmaster, saying the 
Lord had impressed her that the expected letters were to come 
in. “ How do you know?” asked the man. She explained how 
God had impressed her in prayer that the money for the fare 
would be provided at the port. She gave the man a New Testa- 
ment, and spoke of the Saviour’s love. Mrs. Crawford says: 

“He began to weep, and told me he had never before seen 


a Bible, had hated and persecuted the missionaries, had hated 
me when I came inquiring for mail, and had not even believed 


SUPPLIED IN TIME OF NEED 121 


in God before; but my coming so many times, saying the Lord 
had told me there was mail coming for me, in spite of my 
knowing that the mail ship was not due for two weeks, then . 
the arrival of the mail ship before time, and the postponed 
sailing of the other vessel upon which I said we were to sail, 
had convinced him that God was actually speaking to me; 
and he promised to try to get our mail. 

“ However, there were thousands of letters, and he was 
rather doubtful if he would find our mail in the midst of so 
much other; but promised that if I would return in the after- 
noon, he would do his best for me. 

“Tn the afternoon I returned for the mail which I was sure 
would be there. The man came hurrying to me, and handed 
me two registered letters, saying they were on the top of the 
_ pile of mail in the first bag he opened. Surely God had spoken 
to me, he said, and he knew now there was a God.” 


HOW GOD PROVIDED FOR THE OPIUM REFUGE 


The necessity of finding money for his relief work and 
epium refuge drove a Chinese convert, Hsi (pronounced Shee), 
of Shansi, to prayer. And out of waiting upon God came the 
development of a grit that he knew not he possessed. Hsi had 
gone far already in ministering to the needy —too far, the 
missionary had warned him. 

“TI see,” said the missionary, “that in this matter you are 
seeking to follow the Lord’s example in feeding the five thou- 
sand. But do not forget, the Lord did this only twice, not 
constantly.” 

In Mrs. Taylor’s “ Pastor Hsi” the story of a crisis in 
finance is thus told: 

“ Toward the close of the year, after his missionary friend 
had urged retrenchment, when Hsi came to balance his accounts, 
he found to his dismay that there was a threatened deficit of 
over eighty thousand cash: just what the foreign shepherd had 
feared, and what the heathen around him were always prophe- 
sying. He could see his way to making up about a third of this 
sum, but that would still leave him nearly fifty thousand in 


arrears. He could not borrow money, for that was against the 
clear injunction, ‘Owe no man anything.’ And rack his brain 


hee "MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


as he might, no plan presented itself by which so large a sum 
could be raised. His heathen relatives angrily declared that 
he would bring them all into trouble. His wife and fellow 
workers were silent and anxious. But Hsi gave himself to 
waiting upon God. 

“And just then the unexpected happened. From the capital 
of the province a remarkable paper made its way down to Hsi’s 
neighborhood, and came into his hands. It contained a list of 
a number of subjects connected with the Christian religion, upon 
which literary men were invited to write theses to compete for 
valuable prizes. The essays were to contain about five thousand 
characters, and might be written either in verse or prose, but 
the highest prize was for poetical compositions, and consisted 
of fifty ounces of silver. The offer was from the T’ai-yuan 
missionaries, and open to all the literati of the province. 

“* This,’ cried Hsi with enthusiasm, ‘is the Lord’s answer 
to our petitions. The first prize shall assuredly be mine.’ 

“With faith and courage he set to work. It was already 
the tenth month of the year, and there was no time to spare. 
The first prize was for poetry only, and so to that line of things 
he confined himself. 

“ Little though he realized it at the time, there was a deeper 
purpose in that versifying than the one he had in view. The 
growing church of his own hills and valleys needed a new 
hymnology, something of their own, expressing in local lan- 
guage the experiences of the heart. Hsi was dimly conscious 
of the need. He knew the hymns they used did not appeal much 
to the people. But it had never occurred to him that he might 
be enabled to write others that would. Now as he pondered, 
pen in hand, thoughts came to him and the verses flowed, until 
one after another poems were written that discovered a gift 
never again lost sight of. 

“A little later the missionary paid another visit to the west- 
ern Chang village, this time not to advise caution, but to confer 
upon the winner of the first prize a shoe of silver worth seventy 
thousand cash—-amply sufficient to close the year with a 
balance on the right side. This was to Hsi a memorable ex- 
perience, quite a milestone on life’s journey.” 


FROM A SCRAPBOOK 
Though it is not a narrative of modern missions, let these 
anonymous lines from a scrapbook tell in verse the story of — 


SUPPLIED IN TIME OF NEED PZ 


‘“ ANSWERED PRAYER 


“Within a town of Holland once 

A widow dwelt, ’tis said, 

So poor, alas! her children asked 
One night in vain for bread. 

But this poor woman loved the Lord, 
And knew that He was good; 

So, with her little ones around, 
She prayed to Him for food. 


“ When prayer was done, her oldest child — 
A boy of eight years old — 
Said softly, ‘In the Holy Book, 
Dear mother, we are told 
How God, with food by ravens brought, 
Supplied the prophet’s need.’ 
‘Yes, she answered, ‘but that, my son, 
Was long ago, indeed.’ 


** But, mother, God may do again 
What He has done before; 
And so, to let the birds fly in, 
I will unloose the door.’ 

Then little Dink, in simple faith, 
Threw ope the door full wide, 
So that the radiance of their lamp 

Fell on the path outside. 


‘“ Erelong, the burgomaster passed, 

And, noticing the light, 
Paused to inquire why the door 

Was open so at night. 

‘My little Dink has done it, sir,’ 
The widow, smiling, said, 

‘That ravens might fly in to bring 
My hungry children bread.’ 


“* Indeed!’ the burgomaster cried, 
‘Then here’s a raven, lad; 
Come to my home, and you shall see 
Where bread may now be had.’ 
Along the street to his own house 
He quickly led the boy, 
And sent him back with food that filled 
His humble home with joy.” 





ST 


EXILED FOR CHRI 


for the Master 


’ 


and All 


Home, 


, 


rom Husband 


le F 


i 


a Voluntary Ex 


ife, 


du W 


In 
124 


AH 


Meetings Providentially Arranged 


“Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and 
join thyself to this chariot.’ (The meeting of 
Philip and the Ethiopian treasurer, on the edge 
of the desert.) Acts 8:29. 


‘GOD HAS BROUGHT ME TO YOU ” 

A MISSIONARY woman in India had been visiting one of 
India’s child wives to engage in brief moments of Bible study. 
The young girl’s heart was touched, and forsaking all for 
Christ, she became a trained nurse and a valued helper in our 
India missions. In her own words, Kheroda Bose tells how 
providentially she found “her missionary” at the instant of 
dire need, when a few moments’ delay would have been fatal. 

One day, the account goes, the girl’s husband returned from 
_ business, and found the missionary at his home. He threw a 
brick at the lady, whose foot was cut. 

‘“T began to cry,” said Kheroda. 

“Do not cry,” said the missionary, “ your husband does not 
understand. Christ suffered for us, and I am glad to have the 
privilege of suffering for Him.” 

“We had just been studying about His death on the cross, 
so I understood her words; and I marveled. I had never seen 
the like before.” 

Just then Kheroda’s family moved to Kashi,—* Kashi the 
Splendid,” as the temple city of Benares is called,—and she 
saw no more of her missionary friend. Then one day, in Kashi, 
who should call at the door but the very missionary lady her- . 
self! She, too, had been transferred to Kashi. 


“As she was about to leave,” says Mrs. Bose, “I asked 
her where she lived.” 

“Not far from here,” she said; “ just over in the missionary 
cantonment. But why do youask? Will you come to see me?” 

“Then looking me straight in the face, she said, ‘Do you 
love Jesus? Will you forsake all for Him who forsook all 
for you?’ 

“T said nothing; but I marveled that Jesus had forsaken all 
for me, and I longed to forsake all for Him.” 

125 


126 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


The longing grew into a purpose. A few days later the 
young girl, with trembling — for a young woman of her class 
was not supposed ever to show her face on the street — opened 
the gate and plunged out into the hurrying throng, blindly hop- 
ing that somehow in the great city she could find “her mis- 
sionary.” 

“As I walked, I prayed,” she says, “ Lord, I am forsaking 
all for you; show me the road to the missionary’s home.” 

She saw a gharri (a public carriage) passing, and called to 
the driver and told him to drive her fast to the mission homes. 

“We had scarcely started,’ she said, “ when some one 
threw a tract into the gharri door. I looked, and there was 
my missionary herself! 

** Mem-sahib! Mem-sahib!’ I called, and she stopped the 
gharri. 

“*God has answered my prayer,’ I said, ‘and brought me 
to you.’ ”’ 

Instantly, as the missionary learned the girl was giving her- 
self to be a Christian, she well knew the need of quick action 
in that sacred city of the Hindus. Without returning to her 
home, the missionary drove to the railway station, and hastened 
the girl a two days’ journey away to another mission. 

Immediately Kheroda’s flight became known, the city was 
in uproar. The mission compound was invaded by searchers. 
But no one there had any knowledge of the case. Later, when 
police activity traced the young convert, she was able to secure 
her freedom to be a Christian by declaration before the courts. 
Taking the training as a nurse in our Calcutta Sanitarium, 
Kheroda has given many years to Christian service, never 
ceasing to thank God for the watchful providence that brought 
her “missionary lady” to her door in the strange city, and 
then guided her own flight so instantly and surely into the way 
of safety and deliverance. 

MEETING THE MOSLEM CHIEFS 

It is a remarkable thing to hear of Moslem chiefs in the 
East African hinterland searching for Christian truth. As 
they were turning back, disappointed in their search, whom 


MEETINGS PROVIDENTIALLY ARRANGED 127 


should they meet in the wilds but men who could tell them of 
the very message their hearts were longing to hear? Of that 
search party and the providential meeting, the following account 
is given by Foreign Mission Secretary W. E. Read, of Europe: 


“On the northeast coast of Africa, some months ago, two 
Moslem chiefs came up to the capital, evidently tired of the 
superstitions of the past. Their hearts were burdened with a 
ereat need for God, and so they came up to the capital and 
called at one mission station after another, but somehow they 
did not get the satisfaction their souls longed for, so they began 
to retrace their steps. They had already traveled for nearly 
six weeks, day after day, through hostile tribes, to get to the 
capital. 

“They were about two days on their journey back when 
some of our native brethren met them on the road. As 1s the 
custom in those countries, the two parties greeted each other, 
and our men found out who they were. When our brethren 
knew the chiefs were seeking for a missionary, they asked, 
‘Did you call at the Adventist mission?’ 

‘““ No, we have not heard of such a place.’ 

“* Well, you’d better come back with us.’ 

“So they took them back to the home of Missionary Gud- 
mundsen, in charge of our station there, and they stayed two 
whole weeks and listened to the Word of God as our brother 
taught the message to them. They had received the very thing 
that touched their hearts. The peace of God came into their 
souls, and they gave their hearts to Jesus, and began to rejoice 
in His message of freedom from sin. 

“Then they went back to their villages. They walked day 
after day and week after week, and by and by they got within 
sight of the villages. The people, seeing them, came rushing 
out to greet them. 

THEIR NEW-FOUND JESUS 


“ Well,’ they asked, ‘what have you found?’ 

“And then these two chiefs told of their new-found, loving 
friend Jesus. They taught all they could to those people. Sevy- 
eral hundred of them were gathered round. 

‘““A few weeks later a runner came up to the mission station, 
announcing that there were a lot of people down there longing 
for further light, and that we must send them a missionary. 
Missionary Gudmundsen studied how he could do it, and finally 


128 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


chose his .best man, who, with a friend, started on the long 
journey. They were away three months. It took a month to 
get to the place. They reported 200 people keeping the Sabbath, 
who longed for a missionary to live with them.” 


MET AT THE RIGHT TIME AND PLACE 


Standing on the corner of a street in the city of Calcutta, 
a man depressed and disheartened by failure to find any one 
who could help his troubled mind, was accosted by a messenger 
of the very message that he was searching for. Surely God’s 
providence timed the meeting in those thronging streets of the 
great Oriental city of a million and more people. Missionary 
\V. H. Stevens, of Calcutta, gives us the story as follows: 


‘“‘ Suboddhi Choudhry is a man’s name, and to most persons 
it is but a name among India’s millions. To the writer, how- 
ever, it stands out distinctly, and means more than many of the 
great names, not because of heritage, wealth, or personality, 
but because of the story connected with that name. 

“In May, 1920, a tall man in Cuttack, who had been con- 
nected with a certain mission for seven years, left his wife and 
child, and started for Calcutta. Had he deserted them? No, 
but he went in quest, not of money, but of the true riches. 
Thinking some one may be interested in his story, | take a few 
minutes to write it. 

“ Suboddhi, as a Hindu, had belonged to a joint-family of 
eighty members. Having espoused the Christian faith, it was 
necessary for him to leave all that this family meant to him. ~ 
He became a worker in the cause of Christ, and was very 
happy. 

“In the year with which this story begins, he had a burden 
to go back and tell his relatives of Christ, who had done so 
much for his soul, but he realized the need of preparation; so 
he set out to read his Bible through, marking such passages 
as appealed to him as being helpful in pointing his Hindu rela- 
tives to the Saviour. 

‘With this resolute purpose in mind, the study was begun 
with Genesis 1. When he reached the second chapter, a query 
was raised in his mind, for does not this text say that God 
rested on the seventh day, and blessed and sanctified that day? 
Not being able to harmonize this clear statement of Scripture 
with his own observance of the first day of the week, and think- 


MEETINGS PROVIDENTIALLY ARRANGED 129 


ing surely the pastor must have some authoritative explanation, 
he decided that this point must be settled before proceeding 
farther in his study. 

“So he went to the pastor; but not being satisfied, and 
becoming more and more perplexed, he decided to visit Cal- 
cutta, for surely there must be some one there who could explain 
the matter; and moreover, if God really meant what He said, 
there would be some one somewhere observing the seventh day. 

“His wife, a mission school teacher, said, ‘ Husband, you 
know how much these missionaries have done for us, and how 
they love us. Do not go away; we are happy here, let us stay.’ 
But the reply was, ‘I must go.’ Accordingly he took the train 
for Calcutta and began the search. 


THE FIRST RAY OF LIGHT 


“For three weeks, Suboddhi visited every church he could 
find, but the problem only grew more dense, until one Sunday 
morning he was standing on Dhuramtallah Street, bewildered, 
and not knowing which way to turn. Presently a young man 
accosted him thus: 

“* Good morning, sir; may I show you some good papers?’ 

“ After looking at the papers, Suboddhi asked, ‘Are you 
a Christian?’ 

any és, sir, was the reply. 

““Why are you selling literature on the Sabbath?’ 

““Excuse me, sir, but I observed the Sabbath yesterday.’ 

““Why did you do that?’ 

“* Because I believe that the Bible teaches the seventh day 
is the Sabbath of Jehovah.’ 

“Some further questions and answers were exchanged, and 
our colporteur invited Suboddhi over to meet our evangelist, 
who began to study the Bible with him; and erelong Suboddhi 
was rejoicing in having found that which he had started in 
search of,—a people observing the Sabbath of the Lord.” 


SURELY NOT AN ACCIDENTAL MEETING 
Years ago, on a journey from Buenos Aires to Rio de 
Janeiro, Mrs. F. W. Spies, of the East Brazil Mission, found 
herself sitting on the deck alongside a fellow passenger, a 
Norwegian sea captain. The captain had been invalided to 
hospital in the Argentine; and now, forced to turn over his 
ship to another, he was proceeding to his home in Norway to 
9 


130 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


die among his own people. As they talked, he said to Mrs. 
Spies : 

“Many years ago a man sold me some religious books in 
Liverpool, as I was sailing from that port. They were strange 
books, teaching doctrines different from the general teaching 
of the churches. They disturbed me, and | put them away. 
Later I read them again. They upset me. The end of it was 
that I finally threw them overboard. Years after that, my ship 
was off Pitcairn Island, in the southern Pacific, and I stopped 
to get water and fresh fruits. And — will you believe it? — 
I found the people of that island believed the same doctrines 
taught in those books. They all set in to try to convert me to 
the teachings. That was years ago. But since I have been sick 
and must soon die, I have kept thinking more and more of the 
things taught in those books.” 

“And now,” Mrs. Spies said to him in reply, “I must tell 
you something more of those books. I belong to the people 
who printed them, and who are preaching these doctrines in 
all parts of the world.”’ And she had opportunity to have good 
talks with the invalided captain about the “ blessed hope” on 
which every believing heart may rest with all confidence for 
life or for death. 

How clearly the trail of a kindly Providence is seen follow- 
ing that man from the first sale of the books in Liverpool — 
by that pioneer ship missionary, George R. Drew —to this 
meeting along the Brazilian coast while the old captain was 
on his last voyage homeward, with the thoughts of the teachings 
of those books coming forcefully into his mind as he faced 
the call to prepare for eternity. 


PRAYING FOR THE MESSENGERS OF REVELATION FOURTEEN 


In the prophet’s vision of the last great gospel movement, 
proclaiming the message to all nations, “ Fear God, and give 
glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come,” the 
bearers of the world-wide message are described under the 
symbol of angels flying in the midst of heaven. As appears 
plainly in some versions, the word “ angel”? means messenger. 
And so, in a remote region of Czecho-Slovakia, a family were 


MEETINGS PROVIDENTIALLY ARRANGED 131 


praying for the messengers of Revelation 14 to come. Field 
Secretary H. F. Schuberth, of Europe, told the story as follows: 


LIKE AN ANGEL FROM HEAVEN 


“ Just two months ago, in a certain place in Czecho-Slovakia, 
there was a colporteur sixty miles away from the nearest rail- 
road station. He went to a house and canvassed the lady. 
When he was through, the lady said: 

‘““*T see you believe the Bible.’ 

“The colporteur answered, ‘ Yes, of course I do.’ 

“* Well, if you do that, you must also keep the Sabbath?’ 

Meso do. 

“““ Have you been baptized?’ the lady asked. 

i 1 -coursenl havex 

““Do you believe in the second coming of Christ?’ 

moO vespandecd,al-certainly do!’ 

“Then the lady became excited, and called to her husband, 
“Come, come! The Lord has sent us the angel of Revelation 
14, for whom we have prayed so long!’ 

“There were ten persons in that place who had never seen 
one of our tracts or books, nor any of our literature, and who 
had never heard an Adventist preacher, but who had studied 
the Bible, and learned from it that they must be baptized, that 
the Lord is coming, and that they must keep the Sabbath; and 
then they prayed that the Lord would send them the angel of 
Revelation 14. Now he had come in the person of the colpor- 
teur, and later those ten persons were baptized.” 


Thus the colporteur, in that remote region, was led of God 
to the very home where inquirers after light were praying for 
the messenger to come with the message of Revelation 14. 

The story reminds one of an experience reported by a col- 
porteur in the “ back blocks”’ of Australia. Showing his book 
to the lady of the house, he was quickly questioned about the 
Bible Sabbath. Learning that he kept it as God’s holy day, 
she had no thought further, for the moment, of his book. 
Seizing the rope of the large farm bell, she rang for her hus- 
band, and when he appeared, she cried out, ‘“ Come, husband, 
here is another man who keeps the Bible Sabbath.” They had 
thought themselves the only ones in the world keeping the 
sacred day. 





A KOREAN COLPORTEUR 
Selling Papers on the Streets of Pyeng Yang 


132 


Instructed by Dream 


“Tt was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the 
dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he 
worshiped, and returned unto the host of Israel, 
and said, Arise; for the Lord hath delivered into 
your hand the host of Midian.” Judges 7:15. 


THE WAY PREPARED 
Tue Midianite soldier’s dream of the barley loaf that rolled 
into the camp, prepared the Midianites for flight and was turned 
as a signal from God to Gideon’s men to go forward to victory. 
In many a mission field, Providence has prepared the way 
by the lesson of a dream. 
In discussing the providential use of this means of prepara- 
tion for the hearing of the gospel, Warneck says: 


“God, like a wise teacher, condescends to the childlike 
thought of uncivilized man, that He may tell him, in a way 
he can understand, things which he would otherwise hardly 
accept. We cannot fully explain these soul-processes without 
the thought of the divine influence working there, for they are 
often opposed to the knowledge and will of him who has them, 
and force him to actions for which he can find in himself 
neither the power nor the inclination. That, however, does not 
imply that false ideas and misunderstandings may not be mixed 
up with them. It is not a question of revelations, but of rude 
shocks meant to point them to the revealed truth. 

“We must not banish such experiences to the realm of fable. 
They are too well attested; and they are met with everywhere 
among animistic peoples with considerable regularity. Neither 
must we overestimate them. They have nothing more than a 
preparatory significance; they lead no further than to the door 
of the gospel. Like other divine reminders, they may be 
disregarded; they may also be misinterpreted and abused. 
Anyhow, in innumerable cases they have fulfilled their purpose 
of pointing stupefied heathen to the gift of the gospel, which 
they had hitherto overlooked. In such divinely influenced 
processes of the soul which have abundant parallels in the Old 
and New Testaments, we see the sway of God, whose sovereign 


133 


134 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


hand interposes in the destiny of men and turns their hearts 
like the water brooks.” 


And this German writer, of the Rhenish Society’s missions 
in Sumatra and the East Indies, narrates the following expe- 
riences as illustrative of the point: 


“In the Battak Mission the attention of the heathen was 
frequently drawn to Christianity by dreams. Many converts 
from heathenism speak of dreams which had a decisive influ- 
ence on their lives. These are still more frequent on Nias. 
An old priestess there dreamed that the dead ancestors of her 
kindred appeared to her, and said the new religion was good. 
The dream made a profound impression on all the relatives. 
The savage Iraono Huna, on Nias, were led by a dream to 
accept Christianity. The wife of Salago, who afterward be- 
came a leading supporter of Christianity, dreamed that she saw 
at a great distance, a large man with his feet on the earth and 
his hand reaching to heaven. He became smaller and smaller 
till, as a little man, with a white garment, he sat down on a 
stone and said: ‘I come from heaven, and have to ask you 
people of Lolowan if you go to church at Lahusa. Are you 
willing to follow the teaching of God?’ Then they prayed 
together, and he once more exhorted her to go to the missionary, 
that he might show her the way of life. Next day the whole 
village came to be taught, and the idols were thrown away. 

“This dream had a decisive effect upon the whole district. 
Others dreamed of a good spring which rose up near the mission 
house or came from the city of God. Heathen of Lahomi were 
commissioned by a dream to follow the custom of the mission- 
ary, and thereby return to the ‘old custom,’ i. e., the original, 
true religion.” 

THE BUDDHIST WOMAN’S DREAM 

The following experience was related to me by a lady 
medical missionary, Dr. Ollie Tornblad, of the Seventh-day 
Adventist mission in Burma: 


“Does your God answer prayer ?”’ asked a Buddhist woman. 

“Yes,” said Dr. Tornblad. 

“Does He do it?” she said. ‘Can He do anything that 
He will?” 

“Yes,” was the reply. 

“Well,” said the Buddhist woman, “ my husband is a good 
man, but he drinks; and when he is drunk, he beats me, and 


INSTRUCTED BY DREAM 135 


breaks up the household things. Could your God keep him 
from doing this way?” 


The missionary explained to the woman the Lord’s power 
to turn hearts when it is to His glory, and how we can always 
turn to Him and pray, knowing that He hears. So the poor 
woman asked prayer for her husband. Dr. Tornblad praved, 
and the woman praved, and they kept on praying from day 
to day. 

Soon afterward Dr. Tornblad was called to that home. 
She found the husband in agony. While in one of his drinking 
bouts he had eaten something indigestible, and was seriously ill. 
While attending him, the doctor talked with him earnestly. 
She warned him of the course he was taking, and of its sure 
end in ruin. The man was a lawyer, and spoke English well. 
The doctor spoke of God’s power to help and deliver from the 
power of evil habits. 

As a result of the ministry to his suffering and the appeai 
to his heart, the man gave his hand and his word that he would 
leave off drink. “ And the Lord surely did help him to keep 
his word,” said Dr. Tornblad, “ greatly to the joy of his wife.” 

Some time later the wife fell very ill, and again Dr. Torn- 
blad was called. She says: 


“T found the woman so ill that it appeared, as it indeed 
turned out, that her life could not be saved. But she told me 
a story that showed how God had been working in her heart. 
She had had a dream of falling over a great abyss, but that the 
missionary had caught her and saved her. 

“*T believe,’ the woman said, ‘ that it means that your God 
is the true God, and the one to worship. My heart looks 
to Him.’ 

“A little later the poor woman died, and I believe she knew 
the saving grace of Christ in those last hours.” 

Thus in a dark land the voice of the Spirit evidently spoke 
directly to one poor soul. 

LED TO CHRIST 

In the records of our South China Mission is the story of 

a heathen brought to Christ by providential intervention. Mis- 


136 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


sionary B. L. Anderson wrote that the son of a Chinese evan- 
gelist was stricken with bubonic plague. 

“He was but five years old, and from all appearances it 
seemed that he would soon be silent in death. The only hope 
of his recovery was in God. The child earnestly urged prayer. 
‘Pray,’ he said, ‘there is a wonderful power in prayer.’ One 





Perils of Inland China 
Nathan Brewer returning with baggage from interior plague-infected districts 


evening the believers, also a number of outsiders, gathered at 
the chapel and united in prayer for the child. There was a 
heathen man in the congregation who felt the presence of the 
Spirit of God, and that night, while sleeping upon his bed, he 
had a view of Jesus standing by the child, and he was very 
definitely impressed that the boy would recover. The boy did 
get well, and the heathen accepted Christ as his Saviour.” 


A CHINESE HEART PREPARED 
As one thinks of the gross darkness in the great non- 
Christian lands, it surely seems natural that the special provi- 
dences of God should appear here and there as witnesses to 
heathen hearts. Here is one such story of North China, pre- 
served by Andrew Stewart in his book, “ Out of Darkness,” 
published by the Religious Tract Society, London; 


INSTRUCTED BY DREAM Gy! 


“ A prosperous farmer living in Kuan not far from Peking 
had a dream one night. A heavenly visitant appeared to him, 
and warned him against spending more money on the temple 
services. He had lived a devout and worthy life, had been 
faithful in his attendance at the temple and liberal in his con- 
tributions to its superintendent. The holy one told him that 
the services were not clean, and the priests were unworthy. 
He astonished him further by intimating that on the twenty- 
third day of the seventh moon he would meet a man who would 
tell him what to do. 

“ About eight or ten years previously a messenger had given 
him a copy of the New Testament and one of ‘The Peep of 
Day.’ While these had greatly interested him, and had more 
or less influenced his thought and his life, he had never had 
any clear conception of their meaning. 

“During the seventh month there came to his district a 
simple Christian evangelist, his own countryman. He was a 
colporteur, and day after day he set up his bookstall and sold 
his books. He likewise had been guided by the divine Spirit 
to visit this district at this time, because God had a special 
work for him to do there. 

“On the day mentioned in his dream the farmer stopped 
at the bookstall, and entered into conversation with the evan- 
gelist, with the result that he invited him to his home. Here 
they spent three days discussing the things belonging to eternal 
life. Two months later they traveled together to Peking, where 
the farmer stayed for a short time. He did not return until 
he had been baptized, after which he set out with great joy for 
his home. Here he became a faithful evangelist, preaching the 
gospel successfully to his own people, proving that God is able 
to use the weak things of the world to confound the mighty.” 


GUIDED OUT OF DARKNESS 
As missionary work is done for the aborigines of Australia, 
hearts are found waiting to be taught the way of salvation. The 
experience of one aboriginal woman has been related, I believe 
by Pastor B. P. Rudge, of New South Wales. This woman had 
caught a glimmer of gospel light, and the report tells how this 
little spark was fanned into flame: 


“By degrees she learned of the Saviour and His wonderful 
plan to save, and as time went on, she desired to know more 


138 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


of God and Jesus, but she did not seem to make any further 
advancement, much to her sorrow. About this time she had a 
dream in which she thought she was making strenuous efforts 
to peer into heaven for more of God’s light, but could see noth- 
ing but smoke — smoke everywhere — which she finally traced 
to her own mouth. In the morning when she arose she told 
the dream, which was impressed upon her mind, to her husband. 
They talked it over, and decided that the Lord had shown them 
that tobacco was hiding the light of heaven from them. They 
burned their pipes, and the woman has not smoked since.” 


Very soon after thus discovering, by the direct intervention 
of the Lord, that the enemy of her soul was attacking her 
from behind the smoke screen, this woman came in touch with 
our missionary teachers, and was quickly rejoicing in assurance 
of the fulness of Christ’s saving grace. 


A KOREAN WOMAN’S CALL 

Among the stirring stories of missionary progress in the 
Land of the Morning Calm is this one, showing how thrice over, 
in crises, the Lord intervened to save a Korean woman, and 
guided her into soul-winning service. The account comes from 
a report by Mrs. Theo. Wangerin, of the Seventh-day Adventist 
Mission: | 

“At the age of thirty-two she went to a missionary doctor 
for aid. A native Bible woman gave her tracts and Gospel 
portions. She read these with great interest for three months. 
Her husband then saw the books, and she had to take them 
back. That night she had a dream. It seemed as if her father 
had given her a heavy load to carry, and some bread that she 
was to eat along the way. Then some one with nail-prints in 
His hands spoke to her. He raised His hands and said, ‘ When 
you had the bread of life in your hands, why did you send it 
back? Take this bread, and give it to the world.’ The next 
day she went to visit the Bible woman, and brought back the 
books. 

“That very day she destroyed her idols. Her husband was 
very bitter, and for ten months beat her every day because she 
persisted in reading these books and praying. One day he 
beat her from morning till late at night. She then decided to 
take her three children to the missionaries, and as she could not 


INSTRUCTED BY DREAM 139 


live under those conditions any longer, she planned to jump 
into the well and put an end to her life. That day her husband 
brought in a large knife with which he was going to kill her. 
At the very moment he was to carry out the awful deed, the 
Lord sent some one to their home, and persuaded them all to 
visit the missionaries. From that day on her husband ceased 
to persecute her. 

“She has led many to accept Christianity. More than fifty 
women whom she led to Christ have engaged in Bible work. 
At one time she became weary, and decided to stop preaching. 
She had still another dream. Sitting in the midst of great light 
and glory was an angel. He had a letter in his hand. He gave 
this to her and said, ‘ Tell this news to all you come in contact 
with.’ 

“She is truly a mother in Israel. She has befriended many, 
and is always ready to help those in trouble. Although in poor 
health, she still does all she can to win souls to Christ.” 


THE INDIAN’S DREAM SAVES THE BISHOP 

How Missionary Bombas, who later became a bishop and 
famed as a pioneer, was saved by an Indian’s dream, is a story 
told in Graham’s “ Bishop Bombas of the Frozen North.’ The 
medicine men were determined to eliminate Bombas. He was 
with a party going up the MacKenzie River to Ft. McPherson. 
There was trouble in the camp, delays, and quarrels. The medi- 
cine men declared Bombas was the cause of bringing an evil 
spirit into the camp, and that his presence brought them all into 
peril. It was their way of working up a spirit among the 
Indians that would enable them to put the missionary to death 
if he did not turn back. It was in 1870, when the frozen North 
did pretty much as its wild will chose. The writer says: 

“Mr. Bombas realized the situation was most critical. One 
night, after a day of unusually hard work,— when little prog- 
ress had been made,—the natives became so hostile that Mr. 
Bombas feared they would take his life ere morning. But not- 
withstanding the impending danger, the faithful servant com- 
mitted himself to the Father’s keeping, and, wearied out, soon 
fell asleep. 


“His great friend among the Eskimos was the old chief, 
Shipataitook by name, who had at the first invited him to visit 


140 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


them, offered the missionary the use of his camp, and enter- 
tained and fed him with the greatest kindness and cordiality. 
He had taken such a fancy to the brave young white man that 
he could not see him murdered without making an effort to 
save him. He had heard the threatening words, and when the 
plotters were to fall upon their victim, he told them to wait, as 
he had something to tell them before they proceeded farther. 

“Then he began a strange story, which, falling upon the 
ears of the naturally superstitious natives, had a great effect. 
He told them he had had a remarkable dream the night before. 
They had moved up the river, and were almost at Ft. Mc- 
Pherson; and as they approached, they saw the banks lined 
with the Hudson Bay Company’s men and Indians, all armed, 
ready to shoot them down in the boats if they did not have 
the white man with them. 

“When this story was told, all plotting ceased; and in the 
morning when Mr. Bombas awoke, he found no longer angry 
glances cast upon him, but the natives were attentive to his 
Cares | 

WAITING FOR GOSPEL LIGHT 

A Bible woman, visiting homes in a Hungarian village, 
found one home prepared in a special way for her coming. 

“There was an isolated house far off from the road, but 
the Bible woman, feeling a special burden for the people in it, 
took it upon herself to wade through the mud to the house. 
Before she reached the house the woman came out to meet her 
with the words, ‘ The Lord sends you to me, and you will bring 
me the book you have in your yellow bag. I saw you last night 
in a dream, and bought a book from you that showed me the 
way to God. Thanks be to Him!’ ” 


LETSIKA’S CALL TO SERVICE 
Here is a story of a young convert of our mission in Basuto- 
land, Africa. Letsika had found Christ, but his father and 
mother were heathen. The mission reports tell how he was 
led to make the effort that brought his mother to the light: 


“One night Letsika dreamed that an angel of God stood 
by his side, and rebuked him severely for not laboring with 
his heathen mother to bring her to Christ. He was told that 
God held him responsible for this lack. He awoke sobbing 
bitterly. With a cry he ran out of the hut into the cold night 


INSTRUCTED BY DREAM 141 


air. Kneeling on the frost-covered ground, he pleaded with 
God for the conversion of his mother, and power to meet the 
antagonism of his heathen father. 

“His wife awoke, and going out, saw him in prayer. She 
feared that he had gone mad, so ran to the near-by village to 
tell his parents. But he was not mad. The Lord had laid 
upon him a burden for his mother’s conversion. He went to 
her, and labored with such earnestness and fervor that she 
yielded to God, and is now a baptized member of the church.” 


THE CHINESE GIRL’S SURRENDER 
Walking by the mission school compound, on the outskirts 
of Shanghai, Secretary C. C. Crisler said to me, “ There is the 
Buddhist girl who was led to Christ in so remarkable a way 
recently.”” She had come to make arrangements to attend, the 
school. Mrs. B. Miller, of the Shanghai circuit, told me the 
story of Miss Tsang’s conversion as follows: 


“In our work in one of the villages, we had become ac- 
quainted with a young woman of a wealthy Buddhist family. 
One of our Bible women, Miss Siao’tje, had held studies with 
her, as she, like her family, was a devout Buddhist idol wor- 
shiper. We were impressed that this girl was a fine character. 
The Bible woman had labored faithfully, but apparently the 
girl was settled in her conviction that she did not want the 
gospel. We kept in touch with her, however. 

“ Not long ago we were to have a general meeting and Bible 
institute at a place near Shanghai, and we invited the girl to 
attend. 

“*You will see Shanghai,’ I told her. 

“To my surprise the girl came along with our Bible woman. 
She listened to the studies, but at every consecration meeting 
Miss Tsang was unmoved. Little Tsire Siao’tje, the Bible 
woman, was heartbroken. But one morning I began a study 
,of Christ’s work as our great high priest, ministering for us 

\/ in the heavenly sanctuary. The evangelist put up a chart show- 
ing a picture of the sanctuary in the camp of Israel, with its 
furniture, with the high priest engaged in the service. I no- 
ticed that the Buddhist girl was excited as we put the chart up. 
She was talking in an agitated way to the Bible woman. 

“* What is that?’ she said. ‘ What is it?’ . 

“T feared that something had been done to upset her mind 
about something, and after the study I said to the Bible woman: 


142 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


‘‘* What was the matter?’ 

““*T believe the Lord has spoken to her heart,’ the Bible 
woman said. ‘Three months ago, she said, she had a dream, 
and she saw just the view she now saw represented in the 
picture. She saw the high priest in the service, and everything 
as represented on the chart, with a wonderful light round about 
it. Then when she saw it on the chart, she said, ““ Now, I know 
this is the truth. I am glad I have found this truth.” ’ 

“Before that she had said, ‘I will not believe this Jesus 
doctrine; I will not believe it.’ But now all was changed, and 
when they went to their room, the Bible woman said, ‘ Don’t 
you want to give your heart to Jesus?’ 

i Yes, l want to, isaidy theygirl: 

“The next day we had a consecration service, singing (in 
Chinese), ‘ All to Jesus I surrender.’ It was really a wonderful 
meeting, and one after another the women came up to give their 
lives in consecration to Christ. The heart of our Bible woman, 
little Tsire Siao’tje, was quite melted as the Buddhist girl 
walked straight down to the front to surrender her all to Jesus. 
It meant forsaking home and all, but she felt that God had 
prepared her from aforetime, by her dream, to give heed to 
the gospel message which now she had heard.” 


PREPARED FOR THE MESSENGER 

When we understand, as by Hebrews 1: 14, that the angels 
of God are going before us in all the world, preparing hearts 
for human messengers, a wonderful view is opened before us. 
Every now and then the curtain is drawn, and we see in indi- 
vidual cases how truly the Lord is preparing souls to hear the 
message. Here is a story illustrative of this. It comes from 
Burma. While attending a Rangoon meeting, Evangelist Chit 
Hla, one of our Burmese workers, told me how he met a Bur- 
mese dentist, and found that truly the angels of God had gone 
before, preparing the way. This is his account, as my notes 
have preserved it: 

“As a young man the dentist had attended a Roman Catholic 
school. By the time he had finished the school, however, he had 
decided that he did not wish to be a Roman Catholic. He was 


searching for the truth. For years he tried Buddhism, but that 
did not satisfy him, 


INSTRUCTED BY DREAM 143 


“Then one night in a dream he saw two men coming to his 
house. They were wearing all white, which was rather unusual, 
so that he remembered it. Then it was said to him, ‘ These men 
will tell you of the Lord of peace.’ In the dream he asked 
which was the true church, Catholic or Baptist. The answer 
was, ‘ The true church will tell you about the revelation [the 
prophecy, as the Burmese word means]. A King is soon com- 
ing,’ he was told, ‘ who will rule the whole world. These men 
will reveal to you about that coming King and explain to you 
the revelation.’ 

“For two or three months the dentist thought over this 
strange experience. Then one day one of my helpers, Maung 
Potok, and I, traveling along the road canvassing, came near to 
the dentist’s home. We were wearing white clothing through- 
Outwer, came along the road and saw us. Greeting him, 
I asked, ‘ Where are you going?’ 

“*T am on my business as a dentist,’ he replied, adding, 
‘Who are you?’ 

“Tam the new doctrine preacher,’ I replied. 

““ What is the new doctrine?’ he said. 

“““We are seventh-day keepers.’ 

““Can you tell me about the a-na-ga-de-chan [revelation, 
prophecy | ?’ 

“* Yes,’ we said. 

“At once the dentist was much interested. He wanted to 
meet us at our stopping place, but we had no place. We were 
staying at the railway station. So he told us where he lived, 
and we went to his house later. 

““* Now,’ he said, ‘I am waiting to hear. Can you tell me 
about the new world Ruler who is coming?’ 

“IT opened to Daniel 2, and gave an explanation of that 
prophecy. When I finished, he said, ‘ You are the man I saw 
in a dream.’ Then he related to us that experience. 

“He accepted the truth with joy, and has been baptized. 
He goes out preaching the truth to others.” 





THE DIRECT CALL OF GOD IN SIBERIA 
As Mrs. O. E. Reinke, returning from Russia, passed 
through Washington, she gave to me copies of several letters 
from one of our workers in Siberia. The worker had just 
moved when the first letter was written, and had reached the 
new location with a little money, but almost nothing else — 


144 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


“ without furniture,” he said, ‘ without beds, without one chair.” 
But he was busy at the work. He added that no one was to 
think he and his family were having only hard experiences. 
The blessing of God made their hearts glad as they were work- 
ing in the “ vineyard of the Lord.” He continued: 


“We rejoice under the freedom that we have, and in various 
places success attends the work. Men turn from darkness to 
the light of the gospel. Our power is weak, so the Lord works 
wonderfully by His power. I will tell of an experience or two: 

“Tn one village several people had remarkable dreams. All 
alike were impressed in their dreams with the nearness of the 
second coming of Christ. They heard His voice. They were 
so startled that they began to seek God. They found our 
meeting place, and now there is a group of people prepared to 
follow the truth in that place. 

“In another place the Lord Jesus appeared to a preacher in 
a dream, and commanded him to turn about and be converted. 
As the man awoke and reflected upon the vividness of the mes- 
sage, he wondered what the experience could mean. Soon after- 
ward he came in contact with one of our brethren, and as he 
heard of the present truth, he understood clearly the meaning 
of the dream he had had. Today this former preacher is a 
brother in the faith.” 


A FILIPINO OPPOSER TURNED 
Some years ago, in the Eastern Tidings, organ of the 
Asiatic Division Missions, Superintendent L. V. Finster told 
how one opposer of the work was turned abruptly into a friendly 
inquirer. He wrote: 


“Ever since we opened our work in the province of Bataan 
in central Luzon, Philippine Islands, the head of one of the 
churches in that district has continued a bitter opposition to our 
efforts. He would gather his pastors together and come to the 
place where we were holding meetings, and try in every way 
possible to discourage the people and hinder the work. 

“About a month ago he had a very impressive dream. In 
this dream he was told that he should not ‘oppose our work,” 
but should ‘ investigate it.’ 

“True to this impression, the next day he decided to attend 
the meeting and investigate the truths that were taught. He 
became interested in the subject presented, and continued his 


INSTRUCTED BY DREAM 145 


visits to the tent the following evenings. Soon he became very 
much interested in the message that was being given, and asked 
that he might have an interview with our pastor. After some 
talk, they arranged for a daily study. When he understood our 
real position and the truths that we preach to the people, he was 
glad, and was willing to follow the truths as revealed.” 


‘‘YOU ARE THE VERY ONE” 

In the Inter-American Messenger, published on the Canal 
Zone, Missionary E. E. Parchment, of Jamaica, tells of a lonely 
ride on horseback into a part of Jamaica far from the highway. 
As he stopped at one house, he says: 


“JT was greeted with a smile from one whose stooped 
shoulders and hoary locks told the story that many an autumn 
had passed over her. Having never been there before, I was 
surprised to hear her say, ‘I know you, sir.’ 

‘““T replied, “ You are mistaken, for I never have been this 
way before.’ But she insisted that she had seen me. With 
great interest I listened as this woman, enfeebled by age, told 
her experience. 

“She said she had heard of Seventh-day Adventists and 
their message, and that, being perplexed over many points of 
their doctrine, she had asked the Lord, on bended knee, to send 
her some one who would teach her the hidden truths. That very 
night she saw in a dream a young man riding on a horse. He 
entered her home, and said that he had come to teach her. 

“When she finished relating her dream, she threw up her 
hands to heaven, and thanked God that her prayer was answered. 
She said, ‘ You are the very one, sir, that I saw in my dream.’ 

“T spent three. hours with her, and by the help of the 
Spirit of God I was able to throw light into her darkened soul. 
When I left she was rejoicing in her new-found faith. 

“Truly, friends, ‘God moves in a mysterious way.’ 


+? 


THE BENGAL FARMER’S SEARCH FOR TRUTH 
Speaking of ways that the divine hand has of leading souls 
out of darkness into light, Pastor A. W. Cormack, president of 
the Southern Asia Division, told the following story of a Bengal 
farmer’s search for the right way: 


“| remember the case of a man who lives over in northeast 
India. He had come in contact with Christianity, and so far 


10 


146 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


as he understood the truth he was obedient to it. Then he had 
a dream one night. He dreamed that there would come to India 
representatives of a new mission body, who would be teaching 
that the second coming of the Lord was near at hand, and not 
only that, but they would also teach that the seventh day of 
the week should be kept in this dispensation. 

‘We do not know that he ever received any of our litera- 
ture, or that he ever came in contact with any Seventh-day 
Adventist representative; but he had this dream. He was so 
impressed by it that he left his home and made a journey of 
about fifty miles from village to village, and inquired of the 
people, ‘Can you tell me of a people who teach that Jesus is 
soon coming, and that the seventh-day Sabbath should be kept?’ 
But no one could tell him of such a people. 

“Finally he came away up to Ranchi, where we have a 
mission station, but the station was closed, the missionary, 
L. J. Burgess, being away on furlough. The inquirer returned 
to his home without having found the representatives of this 
mission body of whom he had dreamed. He went back dejected 
and disconsolate. 


GOD’S HAND NOT SHORTENED 


“Then the Lord, who can cause the wrath of man to praise 
Him, achieved His purpose in another way. This man had 
failed to meet any of our missionaries, but a missionary of 
another society went to his village, and in his teaching began 
to disparage the work of Seventh-day Adventists, saying that 
they were frightening the people, preaching about the nearness 
of the end of the world, and not only so, but they were teach- 
ing that the ‘ Jewish’ Sabbath should be kept. 

“The old man listened, as these disparaging references were 
made. He heard not the disparaging words, but only the de- 
scription of the teachings being spoken against. He remem- 
bered his dream; and decided at once that he would go again 
and search for these missionaries. He came again to Ranchi. 
By this time Missionary L. J. Burgess and Mrs. Burgess had 
returned from furlough. One day a man knocked at the mis- 
sion station door, and inquired whether the missionaries there 
believed that Jesus was coming again. 

‘““Oh, what a question! 

““ Surely,’ Brother Burgess said, ‘ we believe that.’ 

“And do you believe that the seventh day is the Sabbath?’ 


INSTRUCTED BY DREAM 147 


“* Yes. Wherever our missionaries go,’ he explained, ‘ they 
preach that Jesus is soon coming, and that the seventh day is 
the Sabbath of the Lord. That 1s why we are called Seventh- 
day Adventists.’ 

“The man asked if he might come in. He came in, and 
sitting at the feet of the missionaries, he listened and learned 
something of the message, and then went back to his village. 
Again and again, at his own expense, he came to visit the 
missionary,— fifty miles from his farm,—and each time he 
would go back and tell his neighbors and friends what he had 
learned. 

THE DREAM BEARS FRUIT 


“When one of our missionaries went down there, he found 
a large congregation of people willing to listen to the truths for 
these last days; and very soon after that, eleven persons were 
baptized in that village. Now a church is being built there. 
Before we had a missionary, a representative, to send to that 
village— one of the 775,000 villages in India,— God had sent 
a message in a dream to this old man. 

“You remember God says, ‘I will pour out of My Spirit,’ 
“in the last days,’ ‘upon all flesh: . . . and your young men 
shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.’ I do 
not suggest that every old man’s dreams signify much; but 
the Lord used that dream to establish the message in that 
village.” 

FROM SATAN TO CHRIST 

How a Korean seeker after light, fasting and praying to 
Satan himself for peace, found light and peace at last, is told 
by Dr. Riley Russell, pioneer in our medical missionary work 
in the “ Land of the Morning Calm.” Sending a letter with an 
inclosure of writing in Korean characters, the doctor said: 


“One man took this inclosed document containing prayers 
to Satan, along with many others, and shut himself away from 
mankind up in the mountains for two years. There he prayed 
to Satan, and fasted, hoping to reach a condition of peace. 
But not being satisfied, he decided to become a Christian, and 
began reading the Bible. But he was bothered because there 
were so many sects. He wanted to know where he would find 
the right way. So he prayed to God to show him the right way, 
and at night he dreamed he saw a tree bearing twelve kinds of 


148 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


fruit, and near the tree a blazing Chinese character representing 
the number ‘7.’ 

“ The next day one of our Korean colporteurs, traveling the 
mountain path, met the man as he sat thinking of his dream, 
and gave him a Bible study. Our brother had him read a de- 
scription of the new earth, in the course of the study. When 
the man read Revelation 22:2, describing ‘the tree of life, 
which bare twelve manner of fruits,’ remembering the vivid 
representation that came to him following his prayer for guid- 
ance, he said, ‘ This is the true church.’ He wanted to know 
the meaning of the figure ‘7,’ blazing with light, that he saw 
in his dream. 

““ Well,’ said the colporteur, very naturally, ‘it must mean 
that the seventh day is “the Sabbath of the Lord thy God,” 
and the Seventh-day Adventists are the people who are preach- 
ing the message of the true Sabbath in all lands.’ ” 

The man came to Soonan, the school headquarters, and after 
fully accepting Christ, he gave over this document with the 
strange characters, to be sent us as a memorial of the last time 
he ever prayed to Satan for peace. 

Who sent the man the dream that night, and then guided the 
feet of the colporteur up the mountain path at the very right 
moment, guiding the humble agent also in choosing just the 
topic for his brief study that would connect with the inquirer’s 
dream? It was an ever-watchful Providence. 

There is a hand reaching down from heaven to meet every 
hand stretched up in the darkness. In these accounts that come 
so frequently of the providential working of God to prepare 
hearts for the receiving of the truth when it reaches them, we 
are reminded of that word in 2 Chronicles 16:9: 

“The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole 
earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose 
heart is perfect toward Him.” 


THE UKRAINIAN FARMER’S DREAM 
Along the snow-covered Canadian plains, where Ukrainian 
farmers from Russia have made new homes in the New World, 
Colporteur Zachary was making his way with truth-filled books. 
He traveled with snowshoes, drawing a toboggan sled on which 


INSTRUCTED BY DREAM 149 


his books were packed. Secretary W. W. Eastman, of the 
General Conference Publishing Department, reports one ex- 
perience of this pioneering missionary worker: 


“One day he was passing a small straw-covered shack, and 
it was almost buried in snow. He said he made up his mind 
not to stop there, for they would be too poor to buy a book; 
but the song came to his mind, ‘ Pass me not, O gentle Saviour,’ 
and then he thought how awful it would have been if the 
Saviour had passed him by. Immediately he returned, went to 
the door, and was greeted with a cordial, ‘Come in.’ As he 
entered, the man turned to his wife and said, ‘ Here, wife, is 
bi eee I have been telling you about all day; here he is, here 

Exisnic 

“The colporteur could not understand such a greeting, but 
presently the man turned to him and said, ‘ You are the man! 
You are the man! I saw you in my dream last night. I was 
traveling, and we were passing by a field of grain, ripe, overripe. 
It was going to waste, and I asked the man who was driving 
why this grain was not reaped, and who was responsible for it. 
And then we saw a man coming through the field with a scythe 
on his shoulder, and he came out near where we were. The 
grain was sticking to his clothes. 

““T asked him the question why this grain was not reaped, 
and who was responsible for it. The man did not answer me, 
but pulled a book from under his coat, and began to show it 
to me. It had a red cover with large letters on it, and I 
noticed, as he showed the book, that there were pictures in it 
of the coming of Jesus in the clouds of heaven. I wanted the 
book, but he said, “I am just taking orders,’ and he would not 
let me have the book. I pressed him for a copy, and presently 
he pulled out of his hip pocket a black book with gold letters 
on it, and in this book was the page where he wrote down the 
orders for the larger book, and he took my name. Now,’ he 
said, ‘you are the man, you are the man I saw in my dream; 
but where is the book? where is the book?’ 

“The colporteur brought out ‘The World’s Hope’ in the 
Ukrainian language. ‘Oh,’ said the man, ‘that is the book, 
that is the book!’ and he took it from Zachary’s hands, and 
hugged it to him. ‘This is the book,’ he said; ‘but where is 
that little black book?’ 

“The colporteur reached in his hip pocket and took out his 
order book. ‘Oh, yes, that is the book!’ the man exclaimed. 


150 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


It was a small book with black covers, with the guaranty slip. 
‘Don’t take this book away; I must have it,’ said the farmer, 
holding on to the copy of ‘The World’s Hope.’ And although 
the man did not have the money, Zachary left the book with 
him, and received payment for it two months later. 

“A little later Colporteur Zachary had the privilege of 
seeing fifty Ukrainians rejoicing in the truth. Thus the grain, 
as represented in the farmer’s dream, literally ‘stuck to the 
clothes’ of the colporteur as he went through the ripened 


fields.” 
STRANGELY LED IN THE KAREN HILLS 


Speaking at a missions conference on providential prepara- 
tions of the way in one section of Burma, Missionary E. B. 
Hare, of the Seventh-day Adventist missions on the Salween 
River, told the following story: 

“While I was in a village visiting among the people, I 
noticed one man who had a red cross on his shoulder. I went 
up to him and said, 

“ “Uncle, I haven’t seen a man dressed like this, with a red 
cross on his shoulder. I didn’t know that the hospital had a 
Red Cross Society out here. What kind of man are you, 
anyway?’ 

“ He said, ‘I am a Klee Bow man.’ 

“What kind of man is that?’ 

“© A Klee Bow man is a man that belongs to the Klee Bow 
church,’ 

“T said, ‘That is very interesting. And can you tell me 
what the Klee Bow church is?’ 

“He said, “Oh, you see the Klee Bow church is the Klee 
Bow church.’ 

“* Well,’ I said, ‘that’s fine, but I want to find out about 
this church.’ 

“He said, ‘ You better go and see the bishop.’ 

Oh,’ I said, ‘ you have a bishop?’ 


VISITS THE KLEE BOW BISHOP 


“About three weeks after that we had time and opportunity 
to visit the bishop. We had to walk three days from the rail- 
way station until we had covered a distance of fifteen miles 
over some of the most rugged territory I have ever seen. 
When we arrived, I saw a little man who could easily stand 
under my arm. 


INSTRUCTED BY DREAM 151 


“I said to him, ‘I am looking for the Klee Bow bishop; 
does he live here?’ 

“He said, ‘I am the Klee Bow bishop.’ 

eOhy Ivsaid™ areuyour I'm very glad ‘to ‘meet you 
This is Sunday; let us get your people all together, and let us 
have a meeting.’ 

“* Well,’ he said, ‘I suppose we might tonight, but all the 
people have gone to their paddy fields today.’ 

““ What.’ I said, ‘aren’t you keeping Sunday like a good 
{Klee Bow man?’ 

““QOh,’ he said, ‘we don’t keep Sunday; we rested yes- 
terday.’ | 

“* But,’ I said, ‘ yesterday was the seventh day.’ 

“* Oh,’ he said, ‘ but yesterday was the seventh-day Sabbath.’ 

“T said, ‘ Yes, it is the Sabbath we keep.’ 

““ Oh,’ he said, ‘that is the Sabbath we keep.’ 

“I said, ‘ Well, I am very glad to see you; let us sit down 
and talk about this thing.’ 

“So we sat down, and I said, ‘ Bishop, how did you hear 
about the Sabbath?’ 

“ He said, ‘ About five or six months ago I had a vision in 
the night, and there was a voice speaking which said, “ Pelico, 
you must keep My seventh-day Sabbath.” So,’ he said, ‘I 
called my preachers and teachers together and said to them, 
“Brethren, we have got to keep the seventh-day Sabbath.” 
Those men said, “ Well, bishop, if you want to keep the seventh 
day, you keep it, but we are going to keep on keeping Sunday.” ’ 

“Those men went back to their villages and churches, and 
the poor old bishop was badly discouraged. 

“It wasn’t more than a month after that experience till in 
some way or other the only Karen tract printed by our people 
was placed in the hands of that old Karen bishop. There he 
read with his own eyes of a people scattered throughout the 
world who were keeping the seventh-day Sabbath. At once he | 
called his preachers together again. They sat down and studied 
the question. As a result of the ministry of that tract, those 
men went back to their churches, and thirty Klee Bow elders 
changed over to keeping the seventh-day Sabbath. | 

“I said to the bishop, ‘ Where did you get that tract?’ 

“*Oh,’ he said, ‘somebody brought it up from the city, 
but who it was I don’t know.’ But I know, dear brethren, 
don’t you?” 





A CHINESE CHRISTIAN EVANGELIST 


Who Suffered Great Tortures at the Hands of His Heathen Father. The Father Now 
Is Reading the Bible, and Is Friendly to the Gospel 


152 


“In Perils of Robbers” 


“In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in 
perils of robbers’ 2 Corinthians 11:26. 


IN DAYS OF REVOLUTION 


AN evangelist in Mexico, Senor Marchisio, told the follow- 
ing story of deliverance from highwaymen who infested the 
land during the uncertain times of revolution and war: 


“T was traveling to Viznaga. ‘Times were unsettled, and 
no sooner had I set out than two fierce-looking men met me 
with abuse and then disappeared. They looked so bent upon 
evil that I thought of returning to the city and waiting; but 
there on horseback I prayed the Lord to direct me, and felt 
impelled to go on. 

“However, farther on these same two men came upon me. 
One man, galloping up, gave my horse a vicious blow, and at 
the same time with a sharp knife about three feet long he threw 
himself forward to strike me. I swung down in the stirrup at 
one side, to shelter myself below the horse’s body. With all 
this, my horse, which was a restive one, never moved. Then 
the other man came up and reached over and grabbed my as- 
sailant. ‘ Quick,’ he called, ‘let us run.’ And away they went, 
as though pursued. 

“ How it was that my horse stood still all the time, knowing 
him as I did, was a marvel to me. Only the Lord could have 
held that horse quiet when another horse came galloping up 
from behind, to say nothing of the blow which the man gave 
him. And had my horse acted according to his usual tempera- 
ment, | must surely have been badly if not fatally injured in 
the position I was. The face of my assailant was a fierce and 
ugly one, and he was armed with that savage knife, which could 
quickly have put an end to me. I have always felt that the 
angel of the Lord took charge of that horse, and frightened 
away the highwaymen.” 


A Mexican colporteur, Juan Cruz, had carried a burro load 
of books to sell down near the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. So 


153 


154 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


perilous were these wild regions in that time that people usually 
made their journeys in companies, for mutual protection. The 
report says: 

“About midway on the journey, the company in which 
Senor Cruz and his wife were traveling, was held up by bandits 
and robbed. Practically every member of the company was 
relieved of his cash and blankets, some even being robbed of a 
part of their clothing; but the colporteur, who was striving to 
carry the gospel message by scattering the printed page, surely 
seemed protected by his guardian angel. He says: 

“* When one of the thieves came up to me and started to 
take what I had, he began trembling like a leaf, and turned 
ghastly white. He made repeated efforts to untie the rope 
with which my books were bound to the burro, but the harder 
he tried the more nervous he became, saying after a few 
moments, “This is nothing but books, do not bother them.” 
The man who tried to rob me appeared to be the leader of 
the band, and when he said, ‘‘ Do not bother them,” the man 
who had started to take my blanket let it fall to the ground.’ 

“Thus the colporteur escaped without losing a thing, and 
went on his way rejoicing, praising God for delivering him 
from the robbers.” 

THE MASAI RAIDERS TURNED AWAY 

While alone in camp, her husband being away on a hunt 
to replenish their provisions, Mrs. Stuart Watt, of the Church 
Missionary Society, in equatorial East Africa, felt that God 
intervened to put courage into the hearts of her porter caravan 
at a moment when all seemed lost. In her book, “ In the Heart 
of Savagedom,” she says: 


“After my husband had been away for some time, and the 
majority of the porters were lying resting themselves by their 
loads, some of them fast asleep, a murmur went through the 
camp that a band of the much-dreaded ‘Elmoran’ (fighting 
men) of the Masai tribe were almost upon us. 

“The gleaming spears of these far-famed raiders and 
murderers could be seen hastily approaching through the forest. 
The porters seemed to lose all nerve power, and were already 
commencing to run away. 

“T realized in a moment our defenseless position, and the 
probability of the immediate slaughter of my child, mvself, 


‘IN PERILS OF ROBBERS ” 155 


and the whole caravan, in the absence of my husband; and 
lifting up my heart to God, I peremptorily commanded the 
terror-stricken porters to fall into line. 

“ Acting as if under the influence of some external power, 
the men of the entire caravan fell into order at the word of 
command. Such a formidable phalanx was thus presented to 
the on-coming warriors, that, under the providence of God, 
they at once slunk off into the forest and disappeared.” 


GEORGE BORROW’S JOURNEY TO MADRID 

In the book, “Letters of George Borrow to the Bible 
Society,” there is an account of Borrow’s journey from Oviedo 
to Madrid, in the days of the Carlist uprising in Spain. It 
was in the year 1837, when lawless bands robbed at will along 
the remote highways and bridle paths. George Borrow felt 
that God’s protecting hand was over him as he pushed on 
with his work of Bible distribution. He says: 

“T committed myself to Providence. I will not dwell long 
on this journey of three hundred miles. We were in the midst 
of the fire, yet, strange to say, escaped without a hair being 
singed; robberies, murders, and all kinds of atrocity were 
perpetrated before, behind, and on both sides of us, but not so 
much as a dog barked at us, though in one instance a plan had 
been laid to intercept us.” | 

On that occasion a lad rushed out from an inn to notify 
the Carlists that an English spy was there. In the dead of 
night, Borrow and his man were aroused by a cry, “The 
Carlists are coming!” and they fled just in time. 


“Had the Carlists succeeded in apprehending me, I should 
instantly have been shot, and my body cast on the rocks to feed 
the vultures and wolves. But ‘it was not so written,’ said my 
man, who is a Greek and a fatalist.” 


Of the most perilous stage of the journey Borrow wrote: 


“The next night we had another singular escape: we had 
arrived near the entrance of a horrible pass, called ‘ El Puerto 
de la Puente de las Tablas,’ or the pass of the bridge of planks, 
which wound through a black and frightful mountain, on the 
further side of which was the town of Ofias, where we meant to 
tarry for the night. The sun had set about a quarter of an hour. 


156 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


Suddenly a man with his face covered with blood rushed out of 
the pass. ‘Turn back, sir,’ he said, ‘in the name of God! 
There are murderers in that pass: they have just robbed me of 
my mule and all I possess, and I have hardly escaped with my 
life from their hands!’ 

‘““T scarcely can say why, but I made him no answer, and 
proceeded; indeed I was so weary and ill that I cared not 
what became of me. We entered — the rocks rose perpendicu- 
larly right and left, entirely intercepting the scanty twilight, so 
that the darkness of the grave, or rather the blackness of the 
valley of the shadow of death, reigned around us, and we knew 
not where we went, but trusted solely to the instinct of the 
horses, which moved on with their heads close to the ground. 
The only sound which we heard was the splash of a stream 
which tumbled down the pass. I expected every moment to 
feel a knife at my throat, but—-it was not so written. We 
threaded the pass without meeting a human being, and within 
three quarters of an hour after the time we entered it, we found 
ourselves within the posada [inn] of the town of Ofnas, which 
was filled with troops and armed peasants, expecting an attack 
from the grand Carlist army, which was near at hand. 

“Well, we reached Burgos in safety, we reached Valladolid 
in safety, we passed the Guadarrama in safety, and now we are 
safely housed in Madrid. People say we have been very lucky; 
Antonio says, ‘It was so written;’ but I say, ‘Glory be to the 
Lord for His mercies vouchsafed.’ ” 


IMPRESSED TO WAIT 


The impression that he should delay -— against all his own 
purposes and judgment— was so strong upon the Chinese 
evangelist that he waited. And in that delay was safety to 
himself and succor to the missionaries. The story was told by 
Mrs. R. F. Cottrell, of our Central China Mission. During 
war and uprising, it was necessary to send money through to 
some foreign missionaries who could not safely make the 
journey out at the time. The commission of relief was under- 
taken by one of the evangelists. Mrs. Cottrell says: 

“This Chinese brother took a supply of money with him, 


and you may be sure we all prayed a great deal while he made 
the perilous journey. He was asked to send a telegram on his 


‘‘IN PERILS OF ROBBERS ” 157 


safe arrival, and we were glad indeed when it came. Later a 
letter came from him, telling how God had preserved his life 
and the money from robbers. 

“He said that at one city, although he was very anxious to 
get on, yet he remained over two days without any known 
reason. He was impressed to wait. He wanted to go, yet 
seemed held against his will and judgment — waiting, he knew 
not why. But when he went on, he found that previously every 
person passing over that road had been robbed, until it became 
so dangerous the government had sent soldiers, and during the 
two days he was waiting in the city they had cleared the road 
of all the robbers; so that as he came along, he passed unharmed 
with the money he was carrying. So tell the people at home 
that God who helped in ancient days in times of trouble, is with 
us still to protect and guide.” 


HORSEMEN SENT TO THE RESCUE 


In the year 1792, John Baker, a Moravian, was traveling 
from Utrecht into Germany. Like most of that devoted Mo- 
ravian band, he was a missionary, though traveling also on 
business. Of his peril by robbers on the journey and of 
merciful deliverance, the following is related: 


“When he passed through a forest which was infested by 
a gang of robbers, he was seized by four of them. These 
brutes robbed him of his money, stripped off his clothes, kicked 
him, and dragged him toward the thicket, evidently with the 
purpose of torturing him to death. 

“Suddenly two riders came galloping up. On seeing them, 
the robbers took to their heels. The riders took him to their 
master, a rich proprietor in a neighboring village, who received 
him with the words: ‘ Sir, you are, no doubt, a true Christian 
and in the peculiar keeping of the Lord. When I was taking 
a walk in my garden, my heart demanded that I should send 
two servants to the forest, and when I thought that I might 
safely put it off till afternoon, my restlessness increased. I 
hurried off to command these two servants of mine to gallop 
to the forest. When they started off, quiet and peace returned 
to my mind.’” 


Attackers Foiled 


“The angel of the Lord encampeth round about 
them that fear Him, and delivereth them.” 
Psalms 34:7. 


THE WALL THAT FELL DOWN 

Nor that the whole wall in this instance “ fell down flat ” 
like the walls of Jericho, when the angel force that marched 
with Israel of old laid hand on those high ramparts; but a 
portion of a wall in a hostile Indian stronghold did fall down 
just at the time when it meant the only way of escape for two 
missionaries. 

Messrs. Howell. and Howard, in service with our missions 
among the Indians of South America, in the highlands round 
about Lake ‘Titicaca, were called to a village that had always 
been hostile. But now, it was said, the people wanted to talk 
about a school. ‘They rode in, but found no men about the 
streets. The place seemed deserted of men. ‘We may as 
well go back,” they were saying, when two young men stepped 
up. Mr. Howell’s account continues: 


ia) 


‘Senores,’ they said, ‘you will surely come up to our 
house and rest a little before going on.’ 

‘““ We told them we would be glad to visit them in their home, 
and so went with them. They led us down about two blocks, 
to the street on which the clubhouse was, then turned abruptly 
to the right, up a hill in a street lined by high stone walls. 
The street ended at the house to which we were guided, the 
house completely closing the street, the street walls terminating 
at each end of the house. There was not a hole of any kind in 
those ten-foot walls. 

“Mr. Howard remarked twice as we passed along, ‘ What 
a fine trap this would be if they had anything against us!’ 
But we didn’t entertain the least idea of their having anything 
evil in mind. 

“We tied our horses just outside the house and went in. 
Some fifteen munutes passed in interesting conversation. The 


158 


ATTACKERS FOILED 159 


young man [| was talking with seemed to be thoroughly de- 
lighted with the prospect of having a school in their midst. 

“Suddenly there rang from the street below, ‘ Long live 
the evangelists!’ (Evangelists is what they call us to dis- 
tinguish us from the Catholics. ) 

“The young man | was talking with remarked, ‘ They 
talk all right, aithough they are drunk, don’t they?’ 

erlesaidsaey Comtucy, do. 

“lhe words had hardly gone out of my mouth when up 
went the cry, “ Down with the evangelists! Kull the heretics: ’ 
accompanied by such cursing as | had scarcely heard in my life. 

“ihe young man | was talking with turned pale and became 
very nervous, but made no explanation. 

“IT said to Brother Howard, ‘I think we had better be 
going now,’ just as calmly as | could. 

‘When we got outside the house, we saw that we were 
trapped. There were about thirty men in the street below, witn 
large stones in their hands. ‘They were cursing and caitung 
for the priest to come to help them. There seemed but one 
thing to do,— mount our horses and go down to argue them 
out of their evil purpose, or ride through them and away. 

“As 1 got on my horse, the young man with whom I had 
been talking stepped up, his face pale, his lips quivering, and 
said, ‘God grant that it go well with you today, sir.’ | really 
believe he was sorry for the part he was playing in the whole 
affair. 

“Tl answered, ‘’Phank you, it always goes well with God’s 
children; it shall go well with us today.’ 

“I turned my horse to go down to meet them, Brother 
Howard and our Indian helper coming just behind. just as | 
got about half way to them, there appeared on the side the 
mission was on, a hole in the wall. It must have been a new 
hole, for the men evidently did not know it was there, else 
they would have been there instead of down below. Also, 
Brother Howard’s remarks about the wall as we were going up 
give evidence that it had just been made. ‘The stones that had 
fallen were still there by the side of the street. It was our 
door of deliverance. | 

“I turned my horse and went through. Brother Howard 
and the Indian followed. The men waiting to attack us looked 
at each other, said something, and ran around the wall to get 
at us on the other side. They succeeded in part, for the first 


160 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


stone hit my stirrup, and the second struck Brother Howard 
a terrible blow in the middle of the back. However, we escaped 
without serious injury, thankful to God for His love and pro- 
tection in our hour of need. Truly ‘the angel of the Lord 
encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth 
them 

HIGHWAYMEN FRUSTRATED 


bd 


Living “under the shadow of the Almighty” more often 
than they know, the lifting of the veil now and then rejoices 
the hearts of the missionaries. 

In Dr. Robert Glover’s “ Ebenezer,’ is a report of two de- 
liverances from Chinese highwaymen, told by John E. Fee, 
of the Lutheran mission. It was in Kwangsi Province. Mr. 
Fee had a colleague living in a village two miles away, who 
came to take his evening meals with Mr. Fee. Usually the latter 
walked home with his colleague in the evening, returning alone. 
He says: 


“On one occasion a villager had stolen some meat and a 
coat from our native evangelist. Being accused, he resented the 
charge, and fearing that we would report him to the mandarin, 
he and another wicked man resolved to attempt my life. 

“Provided with knives, they repaired to a valley at dusk 
to wait for my return alone. But all unconsciously my col- 
league had come over that evening an hour earlier, supper was 
eaten, our walk over, and I was back home before the time 
we usually started out. 

“On another occasion a band of men planned to cross the 
river after dark and take our lives. A neighbor in league with 
the plot, but feigning friendship, told my servant of having 
heard of some conspiracy, and suggested bringing in arms and 
sleeping with him that night. The boy, filled with fear, allowed 
the man to come in after I had retired, and there he lay all 
night, waiting to open the door when the others should arrive. 

“ But for some reason which has never yet been explained 
to us, the district official gave orders that very evening that 
under penalty of fine no boat should cross the river after dark; 
so these highwaymen, after having actually assembled, were 
thwarted in their foul designs. Thus again and again did the 
Lord preserve and care for His helpless but trusting children.” 


ATTACKERS FOILED 161 


THE CHINESE MAGISTRATE’S IMPULSE 


It was in Shantung Province. A mob had attacked a 
Christian chapel, destroyed the furniture, wrecked the houses 
of Christians, and carried the Chinese elder and deacon bound 
to the magistrate. They all swore the elder had shot one of 
them in the arm with a gun, which they produced. Miss Vaughn 
says in her little book, ‘““ Answered and Unanswered: ”’ 


“Day after day we prayed, for forty-two days, and day 
after day things looked darker for the Christians and brighter 
for the idol worshipers. 

“The strongest evidence against the prisoners was the gun. 
The deacon swore that it belonged to the elder, and the elder 
frankly admitted it. His denial would have meant nothing, 
for the gun bore his name in full. 

“The prisoners told exactly the same story, namely, that a 
rioter entering the church had shot at the elder, who dodged 
under a table, and that the rioter who accused the elder had 
caught the bullet in his arm as he raised his hand to strike a 
Christian woman on the head. No one believed the story. 

“But we had asked the Lord to bring the truth to light, 
and He had not forgotten our prayer. On the afternoon before 
the sentence was to be pronounced, the official was moved by a 
strange impulse to take to pieces the elder’s gun. Strange, 
I say, because a Chinese gentleman never does anything him- 
self which can be delegated to a servant. The gun was thor- 
oughly clogged with dust and dirt! It could not possibly have 
been fired in years.” 

The magistrate set the prisoners free, and ordered the 
guilty rioters prosecuted. There was great rejoicing among 
the Christians over the deliverance. The guilty men came to 
beg for mercy, and the believers interceded successfully with 


the magistrate for them. The whole community was stirred. 


THE ASSASSINS PASS AS HE TURNS ASIDE FOR PRAYER 
It is a wonderful work of gospel seed-sowing that the 
colporteurs are doing on Brazilian frontiers. President F. W. 
Spies of the East Brazil Union Conference (Seventh-day 
Adventist), puts on record the providential deliverance of 
one worker: 
1] 


162 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


“A faithful colporteur had worked in the interior, and 
scattered a goodly number of his message-filled books. These 
stirred the ire of the dragon. The priest of the little town 
hired two ruffians to kill him as he continued his journey. The 
following day he started out, all unconscious of the danger that 
threatened him. But God had His eye on His servant. Our 
colporteur soon entered a large wooded tract, in which he must 





A Baptismal Scene at Moscow 
travel for an hour or more, and in which Satan had decreed he 
should find his grave. But he had not gone far when he felt 
the need of holding converse with his Master, and presently he 
and his burro disappeared in the underbrush. He spent half 
an hour in prayer, then resumed his journey. 

“He was scarcely out on the road again, which was little 
more than a path, when he was overtaken by a horseman, who 
stopped and stared at him as if he beheld a man risen from 
the dead. Finally he stammered, ‘Are you alive yet?’ then 
added, ‘ The priest hired two men to kill you. They have just 
passed by this place, and are now ahead of you.’ The stranger 
then pointed out another and safer road to God’s messenger, 
and he went on his way rejoicing, and was soon out of reach 
of his would-be assassins.” 


A ‘‘ MISTAKE ”’ THAT FOILED A PERSECUTOR 


In the old-time Russia there was little opportunity to appeal 
against plans of persecutors. Believers were in special peril 


ATTACKERS FOILED 163 


in the early days of the World War, when persecuting officials 
harried them into prison or exile without even formal trial. 
Speaking of those times, our people in a certain city said in 
later years to President L. H. Christian, of the European 
Division, “ Do you know what once happened here?” This is 
their story: 





Other Converts:in Russia 
Fourteen candidates dressed in white for baptism 


“ During the war one of the officials determined that every 
Adventist should be killed, and he went to headquarters to get 
authorization to do it, for he hated us so. The government 
official told him, ‘ You go back home, and we will send you the 
documents, and you carry on your work.’ But our brethren 
gave themselves to prayer, and God surely heard their prayers. 
The official told all over town what he was going to do. He 
had the hated sectarians in his power. He got an envelope a 
few days later with the document which he expected would 
authorize him to pursue his wicked purposes. When he opened 
it, he saw, to his great chagrin, that his official appointment 
had been changed (everybody thinks it was done by the secre- 
tary by mistake, for instead of writing the name of this city, 
he had written the name of another much like it a thousand 
miles away). But it was an order by the imperial government 
just the same, and had to be obeyed. So the man had to leave, 
and our brethren were saved.” 


SGNWISI V4S HLNOS AHL OL SHIUVNOISSIN LSILNAAGV AVG-HLNAAGS YAANOId 





Stricken With Fear 


“The Lord had made the host of the Syrians to 
hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, 


even the noise of a great host. . . . Wherefore 
they arose and fled in the twilight.’ 2 Kings 
LEON: 


AN INCIDENT OF THE INDIAN MUTINY 


THE story of the providential deliverance of an Indian 
Christian preacher at Agra, as he prayed under sentence of 
immediate death, is told by Thomas Evans, a Baptist mission- 
ary, who was in the Agra fort during the long siege by the 
mutineers. The Indian Christians shared the peril with the 
Europeans in those terrible days. They had embraced the 
“foreign religion,’ and were marked for slaughter along with 
the foreigners. In his book, “A Welshman in India,” Mr. 
Evans says: 


“The following incident is worthy of notice, for it shows 
how God can save at the last moment those who put their trust 
in Him: 

“The Baptist Mission in Agra had a substation in a vil- 
lage about twelve miles off. The Christians had come into 
the fort in the month of May, but one old native preacher, 
whose name was Thakur Dass, said, ‘I am an old man, and 
who will kill me? I will stay here and trust in God.’ 

“He was not touched until the day of our battle in Agra, 
on the tenth of October, when some wicked men resolved to 
kill him. He was taken out of his house, bound with cords, and 
about to be slaughtered, when he asked of his murderers one 
favor, and that was to allow him a few minutes for prayer, 
to commit his spirit into the hands of God. 

“This favor was granted, and while he was yet in the act 
of prayer, a loud cry was heard, ‘The English are coming!’ 
This created a panic, the would-be murderers fled, and left the 
old man, bound, on his knees. He was soon let loose, and 
returned to his house unhurt, and lived years after this to 
preach the gospel. 

165 


166 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


“ Now, mark the strange working of Providence. It was 
not our soldiers who caused this panic, but fugitive rebels 
defeated in the battle of Agra, who, rushing away for their 
lives, were taken by the people to be our troopers coming out 
to chastise the villagers. It was this mistake that saved the 
good man’s life. Truly, God can deliver out of the lion’s 
mouth.” 

Many a testimony has been borne to the preciousness of 
trust in God by those who passed through the great Mutiny. 
This missionary, Mr. Evans, makes this remark in the narrative 
of his experiences: 

““T never saw the beauty and power of the psalms of David 
until the time of the Mutiny. The language is so appropriate 
for those in ‘the day of trouble,’ and the promises of God were 
sweet and encouraging in the midst of danger and death.” 

The words of supplication for help and deliverance, and of 
trust and praise, in those inspired hymns voice the language of 
believing hearts amidst trial and danger. Whether in deliver- 
ance from death or in deliverance from the fear of it, God’s 
grace and power were wonderfully revealed in the Mutiny days. 

After the awful massacre at Cawnpore, it was learned that 
while the mutineers were sharpening their swords for the 
slaughter of the missionaries and other Europeans in the prison 
room, two little missionary children led that company of nearly 
a hundred in singing, 

“From every stormy wind that blows, 
From every swelling tide of woes, 
There is a calm, a sure retreat; 
’Tis found beneath the mercy-seat.” 
~~ And how their hearts must have fed upon the words, 


“Ah! whither should we flee for aid, 
When tempted, desolate, dismayed? 
Or how the hosts of sin defeat, 

Had suffering saints no mercy-seat? ” 


Thank God for the testimony through all the ages that 
His comfort and His grace reach to the uttermost! He is a 
“present help in trouble.” 


STRICKEN WITH FEAR 167 


ATTACKERS CALLING FOR PROTECTION 


In the earliest times of mission work in the South Sea 
Islands, a little group of but half-instructed converts saw their 
enemies stricken with the fear of Jehovah as they came to 
destroy those who had turned from the island gods. John 
Williams, the missionary pioneer and the martyr of Erromanga, 





L. A. Roth 


Natives of Tahiti Making Cocoanut Oil 


tells the story in his “ Missionary Experiences in the South 
Sea Islands.” Not a foreign missionary or trained native 
teacher had as yet been on Raiatea. , 

Chief Tamatoa had gone to the island of Tahiti to help 
reinstate his neighboring chief, Pomare, after tribal war. While 
he was there, the revival came, in the absence of missionaries, 
that set the people of Tahiti seeking after God. Tamatoa’s 
heart was turned to the new worship, and he went back to 
Raiatea an avowed Christian. A Christian group formed about 
the chief. He burned the great idol Oro, the fiercest of the 
island gods, whose image, says an early missionary, well an- 
swered to that of Moloch, 


“Horrid king, besmeared with blood 
Of human sacrifice, and parents’ tears.” 


168 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


Then the heathen were aroused. They built a great in- 
closure into which they planned to drive the Christians, who 
were then to be burned. They secured the aid of a neighboring 
island chief, who agreed to come with his men to destroy the 
believers. Tamatoa made efforts to effect peace. ‘“‘ There is 
no peace for god-burners,” the heathen party replied. They 
meant to burn the Christians as Tamatoa had burned the 
idol Oro. 

The night before the attack was a sleepless one. The 
Christians prayed, the heathen feasted. The canoes of the 
chief of Tahaa and his forces neared Raiatea next morning. 
One of the Christians, an old war chief, proposed to take a 
band of men and meet the canoes as they landed. “A panic 
may seize them,” he said to Tamatoa, “and God may work a 
deliverance for us.” 

Thus half-instructed faith began to think of the living 
God’s power to deliver. Tamatoa agreed to the suggestion, 
but said, “ Before you go, let us unite in prayer.” John 
Williams’ account continues: 

“ Men, women, and children then knelt down outside their 
stone embankment, and the king implored the God of Jacob to 
cover their head in the day of battle, and on concluding, thus 
addressed this little band of faithful followers: 

““ Now go, and may the presence of Jesus go with you!’ 

“Taking a circuitous route behind the brushwood until he 
arrived opposite the place where the heathen were landing, the 
commander extended his little army as far as it would reach, 
and gave strict orders that no noise should be made until they 
were emerging from the bushes. 

“The arrangement proved most successful. The heathen 
were seized with consternation, and after a short resistance. 
threw away their arms and fled for their lives, for they expected 
to meet with barbarous treatment similar to that which they 
would have inflicted had they been the conquerors. But per- 
ceiving that no injury was sustained by those of their brethren 
who fell into the hands of the Christians, they peeped from 
behind the bushes and shouted from the trees in which they 


had taken refuge, ‘Here am I; spare my life, by Jesus, your 
new God.’ 


STRICKEN WITH FEAR 169 


“The remainder of the day was spent by the Christians in 
conducting their prisoners into the presence of the chief, who 
remained for several hours upon the very spot where in the 
morning he had commended his little band to the protection 
of God. A herald stood by his side and shouted as the fugitives 
approached, “Welcome, welcome! You are saved by Jesus 
and the influence of the religion of mercy which we have 
embraced.’ 

“When the chief of Tahaa, who led the heathen, was taken 
and conducted, pale and trembling, into the presence of Ta- 
matoa, he exclaimed, ‘Am I dead?’ 

“His fears, however, were immediately dissipated by his 
brother chieftain, who replied, ‘ No, brother; cease to tremble; 
you are saved by Jesus.’ ”’ 


The Christians prepared a great feast to spread before their 
captives. At the feast one of the heathen chiefs said: 


“This is my little speech: Let every one be allowed to 
follow his own inclination; for my part, I will never again, to 
the day of my death, worship the gods who could not protect 
us in the hour of danger. We were four times the number 
of the praying people, yet they have conquered us with the 
greatest ease. Jehovah is the true God. Had we conquered 
them, they would at this moment be burning in the house 
we made strong for the purpose; but instead of injuring 
us or our wives or our children, they have prepared for us 
this sumptuous feast. Theirs is a religion of mercy. I will 
go and unite myself to this people.’ 

“This declaration was listened to with so much delight, and 
similar sentiments were so universal, that every one of the 
heathen. party bowed his knees that very night for the first time 
in prayer to Jehovah, and united with the Christians in return- 
ing thanks to Him for the victory He had on that anxious day 
so graciously afforded them. 

“On the following morning, after prayer, both Christians 
and heathen issued forth and demolished every marat [idol 
house] in Tahaa and Raiatea; so that in three days after this 
memorable battle, not a vestige of idol worship remained in 
either of those islands.” 


IN THE ANDEAN WILDS 
Reporting deliverances from attacks by superstitious and 
hostile Indians in the wilds of the Andean highlands in Peru, 


170 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


Missionary E. F. Peterson, superintendent of the Inca Union 
Mission, wrote: 

“We have additional evidences of the Lord’s interposition 
throughout this field. At one of our missions, where the enemies 
of our work threatened to attack the station, we were told that 
at night those who were planning to make the attack saw twenty 
burros loaded with rifles and ammunition go to the station, thus 
causing them to feel that it was well protected. And no con- 
tradiction can make them believe otherwise than that the mission 
station was protected by this large supply of arms and ammu- 
nition. | a 

“At another station, enemies gathered on the near-by hills, 
planning to make an attack to secure food, of which there was 
a scarcity. However, when they gathered to make the attack 
in the dark, upon advancing they saw that the mission station 
was surrounded by a large force of men to protect it. The 
facts are that there were only three men at the mission, and 
they were inside the house. But the marauders insist on having 
seen the large number present to protect the station against 
their attack. 

“At another time, upon gathering for an attack upon one 
of our stations, a heavy storm came up, and down the road 
where the attackers: must pass, the lightning seemed to flash 
almost continually, running along the ground in long streaks, 
like fiery serpents, thus frightening them, and frustrating their 
evil purposes. - It is wonderful how the Lord protects the work 
against all the efforts of the enemy to destroy it.” 


THE MOB’S FLIGHT DURING PRAYER 


Recounting experiences in evangelistic work in one of the 
interior towns of Spain, where public sentiment against evan- 
gelical teaching was violently hostile, the late Evangelist F. 
Bond, of the Adventist Mission, related the following story 
of the sudden flight of a mob as prayer was being offered to 
God for deliverance: 

“The opposition determined to put an end to the meetings. 
On the second night, when I was in the midst of my discourse, 
a company of young men appeared in the street, headed by a 
priest, who began to stone the meeting hall. The noise was 
great. I had to cease speaking. The crowd increased, and 
efforts were made to break through the windows and doors. 
We were shut in like sheep in a corral, surrounded by the 


STRICKEN WITH FEAR 171 


threatening mob, with stones raining on every side. Those 
who had come out to the meeting were alarmed, and women 
and children were crying. 

“ The only thing I could think ‘fi to do was to pray. So I 
began to pray in the midst of the loud noise, lifting my own 
voice loudly and calling on God above the tumult. Within a 
very few seconds the mob fled. The whole opposition dissolved. 
They had broken through the front door. They had broken 
a window on the front balcony. They seemed determined to get 
in, as if to tear us in pieces. But the moment I began to pray, 
they fled in terror. 

“There we saw the hand that intervenes just as plainly as 
Wesley and his associates saw it in the attacks and deliverances 
of the early Methodist days. No policeman had appeared on 
the scene. The sentiment of the town generally was back of 
the mob. The only thing we could think of that would cause 
such sudden flight was the power of God. He surely must 
have spoken terror to the hearts of those people when we lifted 
up our hearts in prayer to the living God.” 


It was evidently a touch of that same supernatural terror 
which sometimes drove the persecutors into flight in old Refor- 
mation times. In those days, in the neighboring country of 
France, two Protestants were to be executed in Bourdeau. 
The two men were drawn on hurdles to the place of burning. 
The persecutors had it all their own way; for there was no 
force of sentiment in the place to restrain persecution of 
Protestants. Yet the authorities were fearful. Foxe says: 

“Moreover, albeit there was no such cause (they being 
two simple poor men), yet the magistrates commanded (upon 
what occasion I know not) all the gates os the city to be shut, 
and guarded with keepers.” 

The martyrs earnestly exhorted the people gathered round 
the stake, bearing witness to the truth of God. To drown their 
voices, the trumpeters sounded constantly until the men were 
dead. Then above the noise and tumult, and amid all the 
display of the power of arms, the still, small voice of God was 
heard in guilty hearts and consciences. They had killed the 
witnesses, but the angels of the living God were there. The 
old martyrologist continues: 


WAZ MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


“ And further, to note the work of God that followed when 
these two mild and martyred saints were almost consumed in 
the fire to ashes, suddenly, without matter or cause, such a fear 
fell upon them at the execution that the justices and the people, 
notwithstanding that they had the gates locked for them, and 
were defended with all manner of weapons about them, knowing 
not wherefore, took them to their legs, in such haste fleeing 
away that they overran one another. The prior of St. Anthony’s 
fell down, so that a great number went over him. The judge 
Pontacke on his mule, with his red robe, fleeing as the others 
did, was overthrown with the press in the street called Potenin 
in such sort that he was fain to be carried to Pichon’s house, 
a widow, and there cried within, “ Hide me; save my life; I am 
dead! I see even the like matter as at the last commotion! 
My friends! hide my mule, that no man see her nor know her.’ 

“ Briefly, such was the fear which came upon them that 
every man shut up his house. After the fear was past, every 
man asked what the matter was, but none could tell, neither 
could the enemies of God’s truth perceive who was He that put 
them so to flight and fear, without any semblance of any 
adversary about them.’-—“ Acts and Monuments,’ Vol. IV, 


page 425. 

Well we know that the angels of the Lord encamp round 
about the servants of God. Perhaps in modern times and in 
olden times, as a forewarning of coming judgment, the Lord 
gave the persecutors just a sensing of the presence of the 
angelic hosts that could so easily have smitten them with instant 
judgment. The Syrians about Samaria once fled in terror at 
“the noise of a great host”? that God caused them to hear. 
(See 2 Kings 7:6, 7.) David and his men rejoiced at the 
sound of the marching hosts of God, which was the signal that 
the victory would be won. “It shall be, when thou shalt hear 
a sound of going [“ marching,’ R. V.] in the tops of the mul- 
berry trees, that then thou shalt go out to battle: for God is 
gone forth before thee to smite the host of the Philistines.”’ 
1 Chron. 14:15. 

It is good to know that the forces of the living God have 
been abroad through all the great controversy between good 
and evil in the earth. And they are still with us — more for 
us than all that are against us. 


Delivered From Captivity 


“When the Lord turned again the captivity of 
Zion, we were like them that dream.’ Psalms 


fF AOSTA 


SET FREE AS THE CHURCH PRAYED 

Ir will be remembered that while Peter lay in prison, that 
time when Herod had stretched forth his hand to vex the 
church, and the believers were praying for him in their meeting 
room, the angel of the Lord was sent to strike off the prisoner’s 
chains and to lead him forth into the night. As Peter knocked 
at the door of the gate where the believers were praying for 
his release, the girl Rhoda went to the door, and then ran back 
carrying the good news. Although praying for that very thing, 
the answer came so immediately and unexpectedly that those 
inside could not believe that Peter was really at the gate. 

A story somewhat similar was once told by Evangelist 
F. G. Lane, who worked in one of the Catholic cities of South 
America: 


“Among the company of believers was a young man named 
Miguel. He was an earnest, devoted young man. He was in 
the employ of a man who had a carpentry and cabinet shop. 
One day a thief came into the shop and stole some money from 
the employer. The matter was reported to the police. The 
police suspected young Miguel, but the employer had the utmost 
confidence in the integrity of the vouth. He assured the police 
that he knew Miguel would not be guilty of such an act. But as 
the “police investigated the case, they determined that Miguel 
was the only one known to have been in the shop at the time, 
and decided that he surely must be the guilty man. So he was 
arrested and taken to prison. 

“At times the police tried to extort a confession of guilt 
from the prisoner. They had him chained by the wrists, and 
would twist the chains until they bit into the flesh most pain- 
fully. At the same time they would taunt him about his new 
religion, telling him to pray to his God for deliverance. Through 
it all, Miguel protested his innocence, and declared that he 


173 


174 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


would not untruthfully admit guilt, even though it might release 
him from the pain of their torture. 

“It was nearing the week-end, when two of us visited the 
prison. We were distressed at the situation. We represented 
to the police that they had been unable to find the slightest 
evidence of Miguel’s guilt, and that his employer and we who 
knew the young man were sure that he was incapable of theft. 
The police acknowledged they had no evidence, but said they 
could not release the young man. According to their regulations 
they were bound to keep him in detention at least two weeks 
while continuing to secure evidence. It would be against the 
police regulations if they released him earlier. 

“That Friday evening a little company of believers met 
for prayer meeting. Needless to say, we prayed most earnestly 
for Miguel in his trial. We prayed the Lord to deliver him. 
After the meeting the little company continued talking together, 
and then, as all felt the burden, another special season ot 
prayer was held in Miguel’s behalf. So, late that night, all 
returned to their homes. 

“Next morning we gathered in the meeting place for the 
Sabbath services. The meeting was held in our dwelling house. 
Inasmuch as prejudice was very strong, we felt it unwise to 
hold the meetings in the front room next to the street, lest the 
sound of singing should attract attention in that intensely 
Catholic city, so the meeting room was in the rear. It was 
reached by passing through the gate and down a passage. A 
girl was stationed at the gate at the time of opening the meeting, 
so that she might direct any strangers down the passage to the 
meeting place. Suddenly she came running back into the 
meeting room, saying, ‘ Miguel is coming, Miguel is coming!’ 

““No,’ the people said, ‘ you must be mistaken. It cannot 
be Miguel.’ 

“But all hastily went out to see, and there was Miguel at 
the gate, smiling and joyful. 

“ “How came it that you were released?’ we asked. 

“* Well, I do not know,’ he replied, ‘ only that the officers 
came to me and took off the chains, and told me I was free and 
could go.’” 


So once again, when the church prayed, as in the days of 
the Book of Acts, the Lord sent release to one of His children 
so immediately and abruptly that even those who were praying 


DELIVERED FROM CAPTIVITY Wes! 


could scarcely credit their senses when their friend appeared 
before their eyes. 


HYMNS IN PRISON 


In one of the countries of Southeastern Europe where dis- 
senters from the state church have been living in the twilight 
zone of religious liberty, two Adventist colporteurs entered a 





Colporteurs of the East Hungarian Conference 


village with their books. This is the story, as told by Secretary 
Be, Kotz: 


“The priests saw them, and immediately informed the 
police that these men were communists, and should be arrested 
at once. So they were cast into a damp prison cell. While 
some people are always anxious and thinking what effect this 
or that hardship may have upon their health, these brethren 
began to pray and sing the songs of Zion. 

“Tt so happened that some gentlemen of influence and 
education passed by the prison, and were astonished to hear 
songs of praise and prayer issuing from the prison window, 
instead of the blasphemies and curses which they were wont 
to hear. So they went to the chief of police to make inquiries, 
and were informed that these men were communists ; whereupon 


176 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


the gentlemen in question strongly protested, stating that dan- 
gerous communists were not in the habit of singing hymns and 
praying. ‘These men insisted that the prisoners be set free. 
This the chief of police at length consented to do, knowing 
himself that it was simply priestly prejudice and intrigue that 
had caused their imprisonment. The gentlemen then invited 
the released prisoners to an excellent supper and a good, clean, 





Colporteur Leaders of Czecho-Slovakia 


comfortable bed for the night. The next morning the colpor- 
teurs went their way to the next villages, feeling very much 
encouraged and full of joy in the Master’s service.” 


THE ANSWER GIVEN FOR THE HOUR OF NEED 


In the post-war times in one part of Eastern Europe it was 
only necessary to accuse a man of being a communist to send 
him to prison or to the firing squad. By priestly influence an 
Adventist colporteur was so charged and thrown into prison. 
He was then called into court. The story was told by Pastor 
L. H. Christian, of Europe, as follows: 


DELIVERED FROM CAPTIVITY 177 


“They brought their accusations against him, and asked that 
he be shot the next day as a traitor and agitator. Before pro- 
nouncing sentence, the judge gave the young man a chance to 
speak. He was in a hard place, but the Saviour’s promise came 
to his mind: 

“*When they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no 
thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye pre- 
meditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that 
speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.’ 
Mark 13: 11. 

“With the promise came the suggestion to ask an unusual 
thing of the judge. He turned to the judge and said, ‘I think 
you are a fair man. I am not used to speaking in my own 
defense, for I have never before been in prison; but it seems 
to me before you sentence me you ought to read the books I 
am selling.’ 

“The judge said, ‘ That is good, I will do it.’ 

“The young man was led back to his cell, knowing that the 
next day he would either be accounted guilty and perhaps die, 
or be set free. In those times in that country they had a short 
way with those accused of communism. He spent the night in 
prayer. Men can pray under those conditions. 

“The next day at eleven o’clock they gathered together 
again. There were more priests present than before, more 
policemen and soldiers. After they had all assembled and the 
court was opened, the judge said: 

“Gentlemen, I have read the books. I spent a good share 
of last night studying these books. I have never read anything 
like them in our language. They make plain our need of a 
Saviour and the way to Jesus. I am not going to sentence this 
young man for selling these books. They are not treason, they 
are apostolic Christianity.’ 

“Then he said, ‘ We have really done him a great wrong 
by putting him in prison and keeping him there all this time. 
Instead of sentencing him, I am going to authorize this young 
man to show his books to every one of you, and I expect every 
one to buy a book.’ They all did it, and did it quickly.” 


THE KAREN CAPTIVES 
The missions were winning on all sides among the Karen 
hills. Jehovah was returning to the Karens, some villagers said. 
They referred to those strange traditions which had been kept 
12 


178 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


alive for generations by the village elders and bards. Once the 
Karen fathers had known of God, they said, and had the book 
of Yuah (their rendering, evidently, of Jehovah). But in the 
wickedness of the early times they had lost the book. Folk 
songs, sung in the jungle villages, had told the story for cen- 
turies, 


“ Book of silver, book of gold, 
Book that God the Father told, 
Lost, it will again appear, 
When the white man brings it near.” 


So, when the missionaries came with the Book of God, some 
saw in it the fulfilment of the age-long predictions. The gospel 
had won its way among the Brecs, a fierce hill people. One 
chief of the Brecs was jealous of the prosperity of the Chris- 
tian villages. In atime of scarcity, Chief Tee Peh proposed to 
attack the Christians and loot their villages. Some of his people 
thought it would be perilous to do this, as they feared the 
Christian’s God, Yuah (Jehovah), who had returned to the 
Karens. The Baptist missionary, Dr. Bunker, in his “ Sketches 
From the Karen Hills,” tells the story: 

“Tee Peh, however, urged that they did not really know 
that Yuah was a living God till they should put Him to proof. 
Like the cunning old heathen that he was, he proposed that a 
test case be made. They would make a raid upon a Christian 
village, seize some of the children if possible, and hold them 
for ransom. If Yuah came for them, they would deliver them 
up, and so escape punishment; if He did not come, they would 


know surely that Yuah was like the dead gods of the Burmans, 
and they would have nothing to fear from Him.” 


~~ The attack was made and two children were captured. The 
attack was known to be a direct challenge to the living God. 
“It was clear that we could not oppose force with force,” says 
Dr. Bunker. He continues: 

“Letters were sent to the churches, the case plainly stated, 
and prayer asked. The elders and devout men were summoned 


to meet, over the mountains near the seat of trouble in the Brec 
country, as soon as the rains ceased, that we might seek a way 


DELIVERED FROM CAPTIVITY 179 


’ 


of deliverance for the captive children. In due time the elders. 
and all who were interested, gathered from all the churches at 
the village of Sau-pe-le-cho for this new kind of warfare. 

“During the time that elapsed from the capture of the 
children to that of this assembling of the Christian workers, 
the excitement greatly increased. It is true, said they, that God 
delivered His ancient people many times from their enemies; 
but the Karens are a poor people, and few in numbers. Per- 
haps He would deliver the white people, but will He take pity 
on us Karens? It became for them a test question of absorbing 
interest. At our place of meeting was assembled a great body 
of disciples, and two days were spent in conference and prayer. 

“Repeated demands were made upon Tee Peh, in the name 
of the great Yuah, for the deliverance of the captives, but were 
met by him with a curt refusal, and also with threats, if the 
messengers should return without the ransom. In the meetings 
the burden of the prayers was that God would put His fear in 
the hearts of these heathen, and that the children might be so 
delivered that all the heathen, far and near, might be convinced 
that it was the living God who had appeared in behalf of the 
Christians. 

“ At the close of three days, during evening worship, mes- 
sengers returned with the captive children, their captors having 
surrendered freely through the impelling fear of God.” 


“The fear of the Lord,’ says Dr. Bunker, “ fell upon the 
heathen generally, with great power.” From all sides came the 
requests for teachers of the gospel. In various towns captives 
who had been held for one reason or another were set free, 
from fear of Yuah, ‘“ the God of the Christians.” 


° 


A TEXT STRANGELY GIVEN 


It was during the war, when feeling ran high in one country 
of Southeastern Europe against any dissenter from established 
ways in religion. An Adventist evangelist was haled before 
the magistrate on accusation of heretical teaching. He was 
committed to prison until trial, which was to be before the 
civil judge with the ecclesiastical authorities present. The nar- 
rative of his deliverance was told by Pastor L. H. Christian, 
in one of our missionary councils: 


180 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


“While praying in his prison and meditating upon the 
course to pursue when brought into court, there came upon 
him the strong and clear conviction, “Matthew, twenty-third 
chapter.’ , 

‘“* But I don’t remember what is in that chapter,’ he thought. 
He looked it up. There he saw the burden of the chapter was 
Christ’s warnings and woes upon the Pharisees. 

“But that is hardly the line of argument for me to take © 
before the bishop and the judge,’ he thought to himself. ‘I 
should be sure to be taken out and shot in these times, if I used 
that chapter as my defense.’ 

“ However, as he prayed and waited before God, he could 
get no release from the conviction; ‘ Matthew twenty-three ’ 
was ever pressed upon him. 

“He feared he surely would be shot, but he decided that 
the burden of Matthew twenty-three was the message he meant 
to deliver. 

“He was called into court. As his reply to the accusations 
against him of teaching heresy, contrary to the state religion, 
he read from Matthew twenty-three and gave an exposition 
of it. 

“He told how the scribes and Pharisees of New Testament 
times brought charges against Christ and His disciples of teach- 
ing contrary to the accepted views; and how the priests plotted 
against Christ, although all the time He taught according to the 
Scriptures, which they themselves were set to teach. 

“Then the accused preacher showed how the simple life 
and Scriptural teaching of Christ bore witness against the 
worldly and often wicked lives of the priests, and he showed 
that the priests and Pharisees of Christ’s time and the disciples 
of Jesus had their counterpart in our own time; and that these 
warnings uttered against the priests of old were Christ’s warn- 
ings today, against the priests of today, who were living worldly 
lives and persecuting those whose teaching rebuked them and 
who were really feeding the flock of God with the word of God. 

“Thus the prisoner at the bar brought the ways and the 
lives of the accusing priests before the court of ‘ Matthew 
twenty-three.’ As the man finished, the judge turned to the 
bishop. 

“* How about this?’ he asked the bishop. 

““Tt is true; every word he says is true,’ said the bishop. 

“Take the man away,’ ordered the judge; and addressing 


DELIVERED FROM CAPTIVITY 181 


the clerical authorities, he added, ‘and don’t you bring him 
here again.’ ” 


Thus it was given to a gospel witness in that hour what 
to speak; and the Spirit of God spoke there to the hearts 
of men. 


DEFENDERS UNEXPECTEDLY APPEARED 

On one occasion of need, before a hostile court, the de- 
liverance was wrought, not by any testimony brought to the 
minds of the accused on the instant, but by the testimony of 
friends raised up on the instant. In one of the Greek Catholic 
countries of Eastern Europe, where Protestantism has had a 
struggle to maintain its witness, four young women of the 
Adventists were brought to court for distributing Protestant 
literature. The account follows, as told me by those who 
were there: 


“The courtroom was crowded. The public prosecutor was 
bitter. He denounced the young women, not only as schismatics 
going about with heretical papers against the church, but as 
shameless, abandoned characters. 

“The attorney for the defense was evidently carried away 
by the hostile sentiment of the court, and his defense was so 
weak and timid that it was no defense at all. 

“The judge summed up against the young ladies. It was 
clear that in the end he would condemn them. 

“Then it was that two attorneys, watching with the crowd 
in the courtroom, sprang to their feet and asked the privilege 
of intervening. They went into the case as if it were their own. 
They seemed as well prepared as if they had. been assigned the 
case. They appealed to the new constitution, granting religious 
freedom, and to the liberal sentiment that made for enlighten- 
ment and progress. 

“Their strong defense under the statutes and heir earnest 
pleas for religious liberty, completely turned the tide of hostile 
feeling. The judge was won, and set the young women free.” 


PRAYER OPENED THE CHINESE PRISON 
In her “ Story of the China Inland Mission,” Mrs. Geraldine 
Taylor tells of an old Chinese woman who had heard but one 


182 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


preaching of the gospel message, and whose heart was touched. 
Just then trouble came to her home. Her husband was a con- 
stable. A murder was committed. The constable was ordered 
to find the murderer. He could not do it. Then he himself 
must die, said the mandarin. 

“No, leave him to hunt out the criminal,’ was the man- 
darin’s second thought. ‘“ Imprison his son instead.” Some- 
body must die. Mrs. Taylor continues: 


“So the only son of the poor old couple, a promising young 
fellow of good character, was imprisoned under threat of exe- 
cution if the real offender was not soon forthcoming. 

“Heartbroken, the mother made her way to Huan-yen to 
ask the evangelist’s help. Chu Sien-seng was away, but his 
place was supplied by another native preacher, who told the 
distressed mother that, although no political influence could 
be used on the young man’s behalf, she could pray to God for 
him, and that the hearts of all men are in His almighty hand. 

“* Alas!’ replied she sadly, ‘I don’t know how to pray.’ 

“The assistants taught and helped her, prayed for them all 
in their extremity, and asked that the mandarin’s heart might 
be changed, the young man delivered, and that both he and his 
mother might be eternally saved, and made a blessing to many. 

“We have now committed the matter to God,’ said he. 
“Go home, Lao Nai-nai, in peace. Your trouble you have given 
over to the Lord. You must leave it with Him; your son will 
soon be set free.’ 

“Quite comforted, the poor mother went home in simple 
faith, and told her neighbors the good news. 

““Tt is all right. My son will come back again.’ 

“They, of course, did not believe her, and waited incred- 
ulously to see the result of so strange a proceeding. But when, 
in a few days, the mandarin, after beating the young man 
nearly to death, did actually release him, they were beyond 
measure amazed. The grateful mother made him kneel down 
in the midst of their bewildered friends, and, kneeling herself 
beside him, publicly gave thanks to God for His wonderful 
answer to her prayers. The neighbors naturally grew anxious 
to have a teacher and learn more about the strange new doctrine, 
and thus the blessing spread.” 


Protection From Animals 


“My God hath sent His angels, and hath shut 
the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me,” 
Daniel 6:22. 


WHAT AMAZED THE MOHAMMEDAN 


WHEN the first mission ship “ Duff,” of the London Mis- 
sionary Society, sailed down the Thames en route to open the 
wonderful story of missions in the South Sea Islands, the 
missionary crew singing, 

“Jesus, at Thy command 

We launch into the deep,” 

Captain Wilson was in command, the first missionary ship 
captain enrolled for service in the history of modern missions. 
He had been preserved from peril in India for this missionary 
task. He was taken prisoner by the forces of Hyder Ali, and 
imprisoned at Seringapatam. He jumped from the wall of the 
prison, and swam the crocodile-infested river Coleroon. He 
was recaptured, but his preservation in the river so amazed 
the officials that, though holding him prisoner still, they spared 
his life as that of a man under Heaven’s protection. The 
story is told in Campbell’s ‘‘ Maritime Discovery and Christian 
Missions: ” 

“The officer at headquarters was a Mohammedan, one of 
Hyder’s chieftains. He questioned the poor prisoner closely as 
to his person, history, and destination. The captain gave him 
a full account of his escape, with the reason of it, and all 
the circumstances attending his flight. The enraged Moorman 
looked at him and said, ‘That is a lie, as no man ever yet 
passed the Coleroon by swimming; for if he had but dipped 
the tip of his fingers in it, the crocodiles would have seized him.’ 
The brave mariner reasserted the fact, and presented evidence 


so indubitable as to remove all doubt, when the warrior, raising 
both his hands, exclaimed, ‘ This is God’s man.’ ” 


183 


: PT 
“SZ 29 “UBC $ ,,9Ul JANYy you savy AVY} 7eYZ ‘SyJNoU SUT] 34} YNYS yey pu ‘Jasue sIFZ JUeS yey por AW ,, 


YNIM GHL OL WHMSNV S.THINVG 





WIIAIY UOJ Aq SuljUuiVd 





PROTECTION FROM ANIMALS 185 


IN THE INDIAN JUNGLE 


This story was told by the late Miss Belle M. Brain, that 
writer so blessed in setting lessons for the home students of 
missions. “‘ From all parts of the mission field,” wrote Miss 
Brain, “come stories of deliverances so great that they would 
seem to be miracles.” 

The experience of Mrs. Scudder in the tigers’ lair was as 
follows: 

“ While on a long journey across India, Dr. John Scudder, 
the first medical missionary from America, contracted jungle 
fever, and it was thought he could not live. When word reached 
Mrs. Scudder, she borrowed a tent, laid in a stock of provisions, 
hired the necessary bearers, and started to him at once, taking 
her little son with her. 

“The way led through a dense jungle infested by wild 
beasts. All went well until night came on, when the bearers 
became so terrified at the growling of the tigers that they 
suddenly fled. 

“With no human arm to protect her, the defenseless woman 
spent the long hours of that lonely night in prayer. Again 
and again she heard the tread of wild elephants, and the low, 
menacing growls of tigers not far away. ‘ All night long,’ says 
her brother, ‘they seemed to be circling around the spot where 
she knelt, ready to spring upon her and her child. But God 
held them back.’ 

“In the morning the bearers returned, and the journey 
was resumed. At its close, Mrs. Scudder found the crisis 
past and her husband convalescent.” 


THE WOLVES .FELT THE PRESENCE 


Many are the experiences told of Hsi (pronounced, Shee), 
of Shansi, whose life of faith and activity has been written by 
Mrs. Geraldine Taylor. Soon after his conversion, Hsi walked 
thirteen miles to a mission service. The story in the book, 
“ Pastor Hsi,” continues: 

} “The service over, he was resting a little while before the 

homeward journey, when a poor man sought him out and begged 
him to go at once to the village of the White Mountain, to pray 
for a woman, dangerously ill, who wanted to hear of Jesus. 


186 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


The village was seventeen miles farther on. No cart or animal 
had been provided. The road was lonely and somewhat dan- 
gerous. And no one was going home that way with whom he 
could travel. But it never even occurred to him not to go. 

“Hour after hour, faint and solitary, he pressed on. At 
length evening fell, and he had only reached the rushing torrent 
three miles from the village. Very soon it was dark, and neither 
moon nor stars could be seen. Belated on that mountain road, 
he knew that travelers were exposed to the attack of hungry 
wolves grown fearless since the famine. And sure enough, as 
he stumbled on, he heard sounds that too plainly indicated their 
approach. Yes, they were on his track. Nearer and nearer 
came the howling, until he knew that they were all around him 
in the darkness. But there was a Presence nearer still. 

“Falling on his knees in that moment of peril, Hsi cried 
aloud to the unseen Friend. He never knew what happened, 
or how he was delivered, but the next thing he was conscious 
of was silence, and that he was alone. 

“* Everything,’ he records, ‘grew strangely still. I know 
not when the wolves disappeared, or where they went. But 
they returned no more. Truly the Lord was my shield and 
my protector.’ ” 


HOW ‘‘ UNCLE BUNTSONG’’ ATTENDED CHAPEL 
This is not a story of deliverance from danger, but a 
record of faith in God’s power to make a buffalo cow behave 
as a carrier to bring an old Chinese Christian to the place of 
worship. This story comes from South China. Missionary 
F. E. Bates reported it in the account of an itinerating tour in 
the Swatow district: 


“At one place, ‘ Uncle Buntsong,’ as the villagers call him, 
sixty-nine years of age, was left through illness without suffi- 
cient strength to walk beyond the narrow confines of his own 
house. He was especially anxious to attend chapel services on 
the Sabbath. But the only available means of transport was 
a buffalo cow. 

“This cow has a very unruly temper. She sometimes be- 
comes very fierce, and few dare approach her. However, 
“Uncle Buntsong’ believed the Lord would open the way for 
him to attend the service, and earnestly prayed that he would 
make the cow gentle and trustworthy, so that he might ride 
her to the chapel. 


PROTECTION FROM ANIMALS 187 


“When the hour for service came, and the Chinese brass 
kong —a kind of tin-pan-bell arrangement which is used when 
it is desired to call any public meeting — was sounded, he went 
to the front door of his house where the buffalo had been tied, 
and opened the following one-sided conversation with her: 
“Now, you are a cow, created to work for man. I am a man. 
You must be good and let me ride you to the chapel today, so 
that I can meet with the others to worship the Lord.’ 

“His instruction completed, he was helped to mount, and 
rode directly to the chapel, where the usually unruly beast 
stopped and let her master dismount. After the morning 
service, we held baptism in the river about a quarter of a mile 
away, and ‘ Uncle Buntsong’ again mounted the buffalo and 
rode to the river, and later back to his house. From the first 
to the last the buffalo was as quiet and obedient as one could 
wish. ‘Uncle Buntsong’ was very grateful for this evidence 
of the Lord’s care.” 


SAVAGE BEASTS RESTRAINED 


Not alone on the far foreign field, but in mission service 
along the home borders, gospel workers meet these experiences 
of the restraining hand of a watchful Providence. A home 
missions toiler, a lady colporteur engaged in neighborhood visit- 
ing along the sparsely settled southwestern American border, 
reported two occasions when she was very sensible of special 
protection: 


“T was in a country district. As I came up through the 
yard to a house, a dog with a chain dangling from his neck 
rushed savagely at me. He was just ready to attack and bite 
me when he seemed seized with fright. He gave one yelp of 
terror, and ran back under the house to hide away. Just at 
that instant the lady came excitedly to the door and said, 
‘Oh, did the dog bite you?’ 

“*No,’ I replied, ‘he seemed frightened at me.’ 

“* Frightened!’ she answered. ‘No. He was not fright- 
ened. He is terribly savage. We cannot leave him when 
strangers are about. My husband let him loose this morning 
because I was to be left alone at home.’ 

“* Well,’ I said, ‘then the angel of the Lord must have 
frightened him, because I did not touch him when he rushed 
at me.’ 


188 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


“* That is more like it,’ the lady said, ‘for I know you 
could never have come up to this door without a miracle from 
heaven.’ , 

“T had a good talk with the woman, and left her some 
tracts. 

“On another occasion in the country, I had passed through 
a farmyard in order to reach the house. I did not see the gate 
or pathway, and so stepped through the fence, passing close 
to a herd of cattle. A large bull stood by the herd, looking 
at me as I passed, but did not make any sign of resenting my 
intrusion. I went on to the house and had a good interview 
with the lady. As I was about to leave she said: 

“How did you get to the house? I did not see you when 
you came.’ 

“T said, ‘I came through the pasture.’ 

“*Did you see that bull?’ she asked. 

“* Yes,’ I replied, ‘I came right by him.’ 

“* Well, that is very strange,’ she said. ‘ We have to keep 
him chained when strangers are about. Our men folks can 
hardly handle him. He always tries to get through the fence 
to attack any stranger that comes about him.’ 

“T said, ‘God surely then must have power to restrain any 
kind of wild beast, just as His angel shut the mouths of the 
lions in Daniel’s time.’ 

“*Yes, she replied, ‘I believe God surely cared for you 
in coming to this door. But don’t go back through the pasture. 
Here is the gate at the side.’ : 

“T thanked her, and went by the safe path, for it surely is 
unreasonable to expect God to protect us when we walk. pre- 
sumptuously.” 


A PRAYER IN A BRAZILIAN PASTURE 

From South American missionary reports comes the follow- 
ing story of a colporteur’s prayer for protection in a Brazilian 
pasture: . | 

“As he was walking through a field, he saw a bull begin 
to paw the earth and act as if it were going to make a charge 
on him. He immediately stopped and offered the following 
prayer: ‘O God, Thou art the Creator of these animals, and 
this is Thy work; I beseech Thee to protect me.’ He had 
scarcely stopped praying when the bull stopped his pawing and 
began to run in the opposite direction as if frightened by 


PROTECTION FROM ANIMALS 189 


something. When he arrived at the house and told the owner 
of the bull his experience, the man could scarcely believe it. 
He said he saw the colporteur coming, and remarked to his 
wife, ‘If he meets that bull, I pity him.’ He further said that 
many times men, even on horseback, had encountered great 
difficulty with the bull. 

“Shortly after the colporteur reached the house, some 
neighbors arrived. ‘They were so impressed with his experience 
that they immediately purchased literature. They said, ‘A man 
that can pray like that must have good literature to sell.’ ” 


HOW THE HORSE WAS STOPPED 


An Australian home missions worker, a lady, told the writer 
of a deliverance from imminent death as she sent up a prayer 
to God to stop a runaway horse. She was out visiting village 
homes in the Australian temperance campaign of 1916. This 
was the story she told me: 


“TI was driving a little gray horse attached to a sulky. My 
husband had bought the horse with the assurance that he was 
perfectly safe for a woman to drive. After the experience | 
am about to relate, however, we learned that the animal had 
had the reputation of being a regular runaway. My husband 
had driven the horse with only good reports, and now for the 
first time I was out alone with him, having left the two women 
in the village. 

“ Returning, the horse shied at something in the road. One 
of the traces must have broken, for the horse immediately started 
kicking as if mad. He was perfectly wild in an instant. He 
bolted and ran. I put on the brake. I pulled the reins with all 
the strength I had; but my efforts had no effect whatever. 1 
was well shaken up, and the sulky was swaying from side to 
side, so that I had difficulty in holding on. So he ran for half 
a mile, the traces loose and striking the horse as he dashed on. 

“Suddenly I remembered that a little farther on there was a 
sharp turn in the road with an embankment below, where at 
such a pace the sulky was sure to be overturned. I had thought 
of trying to get out at the back, but I could not do this with the 
wild swaying of the vehicle. I sent up a prayer to God to let 
me get out. The horse stopped so suddenly that I was thrown 
down against the dashboard, then the horse gave a second 
movement forward and tossed me back in the seat; and there 


190 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


the horse stood in the shafts, feet still, but his body swaying 
back and forth as though endeavoring to go on, while it seemed 
as if he was held at the head by some powerful hand. 

‘“‘T jumped out, intending to go to the horse’s head to quiet 
him; but the moment I was out, the horse bolted again, dashing 
on as wildly as before. I prayed God to keep the horse from 
injuring any one, and followed on slowly along the road. I 
found later that in turning the sharp corner the sulky had turned 
over as I had feared it would. The horse ran on for two miles, 
and ended his mad dash by running into the place of a friend 
where we had been before. As I walked on, I met people com- 
ing along the road, expecting to find some one dead or badly 
injured. 

““ Have you seen my runaway horse?’ I asked. 

“ “Oh, was that your horse? How did you ever get out?’ 

“*T prayed,’ I said, ‘and the Lord stopped the horse.’ 

“People were dumfounded as I told them of the experience. 
One lady whose heart had been hardened until she felt herself 
really an infidel, was deeply touched. The conviction seemed 
to reach her heart that God had heard me pray. A score of 
people along the road believed it to be an answer to prayer. 
I fully believe that an angel of the Lord stood by and held the 
horse for that moment as I prayed the Lord to give me a 
chance to get out.” 


THE BIRD THAT GAVE WARNING 


A young Karen teacher, speaking at one of our young 
people’s missionary meetings in the Burmese hills, said: 

“JT want you all to pray for me, because even though I 
am a thara [teacher], it’s one thing to preach about courage 
and not being afraid, but it’s another thing to do as my sister 
and I had to do yesterday — walk through twenty miles of 
jungle, where just a few days ago a woman was killed and 
eaten by a tiger ; and tomorrow I must go the same way alone! ”’ 

We will agree it calls for courage to walk such tiger-infested 
paths. No wonder the missionary pauses to register thanks to 
God for tokens of His providential care amidst jungle perils. 
Here is such a record. 

In his “ Sketches From the Karen Hills,’ Dr. Bunker, of 
the Baptist missions, tells how the presence of a hornbill in an 


PROTECTION FROM ANIMALS 191 


unusual spot was made the means of his deliverance from a 
stalking man-eater. Dr. Bunker was leading a party of Karens 
on a visit to his churches. They were in the jungle grass and 
bush. He says: 


“The jungle path which we followed through the grass had 
been the haunt, through the rains, of a man-eating tiger, which 
was said to have killed more than a score of native people. 
These tigers are peculiarly fierce; for having lost their claws 
and teeth from old age, they are no longer able to pull down 
the jungle animals that form their usual food. They therefore 
beset some jungle trail, and prey on human beings, whom 
they easily capture. 

“ Being full of care and anxiety about the state of my sick 
child I had left, and also about the state of my churches, I quite 
forgot the tiger, and tramped along ahead of my attendants. 
After traveling six or eight miles through the dense grass, which 
was eight or ten feet in height, I came toa jungle stream flowing 
across the path. As I approached the bank, a hornbill arose 
from the bushes on the opposite side, and flew into the top of 
a small tree. This surprised me, as the bird is seldom seen 
save on the highest trees. 

“As the Karens are especially fond of its flesh, I shot the 
bird. And that shot not only killed the bird, but apparently 
saved my own life, for the tiger had been stalking me through 
the jungle, as a cat does a mouse, seeking a good chance to 
pounce upon me. This he certainly would have had at this ford. 
I heard his leaps into the jungle very near me; and the ponies, 
scenting the beast, as they are quick to do, were so frightened, 
together with the three Karens who were leading them, that 
the latter began to shout to me: ‘O teacher, we are all dead 
men, for there is a tiger about! The ponies will break away 
from us!’ 

“T shouted back: ‘The tiger has gone! Fear not! Come 
on! Surely God has delivered us.” 


OMOH VOSA JO 159 OY} 9B YOUNYD pue zysIY ey} 4e AresUedsIG YA ‘pavdoys Ppley Aq pepunoy 
VIAIION ‘VOIHOVYdUVH ‘NOISSIW OLNVSOU 





Timely Deliverers 


“Thus sath the Lord to His anointed, to 
Cyrus, . . . TI girded thee, though thou hast 
not known Me.’ Isaiah 45: 1-5. 


PRAYER AND THE WAKIKUYU PROTECTOR 


Mr. Stuart Wart, of the Church Missionary Society, was 
passing through the land of the Masai and the Wakikuyu, in 
equatorial East Africa. The caravan was disturbed by rumors 
of an attack as it advanced. Mr. Watt put on a bold front, 
and treated the rumors as baseless. But as he talked with his 
interpreter, he found that the Wakikuyu warriors had been 
overheard by the porters plotting the murder of the entire 
party and the stealing of the goods. The interpreter also gave 
word that the porters were planning to flee as soon as it was 
dark. Mrs. Watt says: 


““My husband had a long talk with me about the matter, 
and we then knelt down in our tent and asked the Lord to guide 
and direct our movements; and that if it were in accordance 
with His will, the lives of our little ones and our porters might 
be preserved. 

“In the course of half an hour our headman returned to 
the tent and told my husband that the son of the chief of the 
district wanted to see him. ‘he young man was brought near 
to the tent door. He was a very fine specimen of physique, 
stalwart in form and manly in bearing. .. . 

“The warrior desired to know where we were going. To 
this query my husband gave a frank reply, telling him the route 
we purposed following and the situation of the district to which 
we were proceeding, and acquainting him fully with our pur- 
pose in coming to the country, which was to tell the people of 
the great love of God to them, as revealed by His Son Jesus 
Christ. 

“The keen-faced savage, with rolling and inquiring eyes, 
seemed to have his tongue loosened by the blunt and candid 
information which my husband fearlessly gave him; and thrust- 

13 193 


194 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


ing the pointed iron base of his spear into the ground, he re- 
lated to us the fact that a multitude of warriors were in ambush 
upon the path which we were following, and that if we pro- 
ceeded, we would all surely be massacred. He advised us to 
go round by another way, through an uninhabited part of the 
forest, and so escape certain destruction. 

“We were quite convinced that the Lord had answered our 
prayers, and that this man had been sent to us to show how we 
might avoid the slaughter of our children and porters. We 
were greatly impressed with the evident fact that God can raise 
up a messenger to fulfil His behest, even among the most brutal 
and depraved of earth’s human tribes. Until the young man 
appeared, my husband had been fully determined to proceed 
on our way at all hazards.” 

Now, however, warned by the messenger of deliverance, 
so providentially sent, the missionary turned from the main 


path, and on the caravan marched in safety. 


THE UNEXPECTED PASSENGER 

Recounting experiences in evangelistic work in Spain, Mrs. 
Bond, wife of Evangelist F. Bond, told how an unexpected 
fellow passenger proved a protector sent of God. 

Mr. and Mrs. Bond, of the Adventist Mission, had gone 
to a mountain town in one of the Spanish provinces, to visit a 
Protestant family and to follow up interests already awakened 
by a brief evangelistic effort. But permission to hold meetings 
was denied by the magistrate of the town. The law allowed, 
however, cottage meetings attended by any number less than 
twenty. So meetings were held in the private home of the 
family of believers, not above nineteen persons by arrangement 
being in attendance. One night, during the meeting, the mayor 
and his secretary, accompanied by three other men, suddenly 
appeared. They declined the seats offered to them, and re- 
mained standing while they counted the number present. 

There were only sixteen present, so nothing could be said. 
But the visitors walked out giving evidence of great displeasure. 
Thereafter every day the school children of the place were 
given a half holiday, and were permitted to fill the street in 


TIMELY DELIVERERS 195 


front of the Protestant’s house, where they sang and shouted. 
They sang a song which, roughly translated, is, 


“ Away, away with the ‘ Protestantes,’ 
Away, away from the nation; 
We are lovers of the Sacred Heart, 
Long, long live the Virgin.” 
They stoned the house day after day by the hour. One day 
ninety children were counted engaged in this attempt to prevent 


the cottage meetings. The daughter of the house was seriously 





Frank Bond and His Family 
Missionaries to Spain 


injured by a stone. When the grandfather called the mayor’s 
attention to this, he replied, “Then these Protestants must not 
come here.” Mrs. Bond said: 


“We kept up the meetings, however, for about two weeks. 
Then it was planned to leave the place. We had to make a 
three hours’ journey by stagecoach to reach the railway. It 
seemed as we took our places in the coach that we were to be 
the only passengers that day. We learned later that it was 
well understood that we were to be the only passengers. How- 
ever, just as the stage was about to leave, the owner of the 


196 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


stage line himself hurriedly took his seat in the coach, evidently 
having just decided that he must make a journey. 

“We started out. But along the streets of the village, and 
along the main road outside the village, we began to notice the 
groups of boys and children gathered. As the stage passed 
along with the owner of the line conspicuous in it, we noticed 
the boys and children quietly dropping stones from their hands. 
We saw their pockets bulging with stones also. Afterward we 
learned that there was an organized plan for the boys to kill 
us that day as we drove from the village. 

“It seems that the driver was not at all in favor of us, and 
we would have been an easy prey had not the owner of the stage 
line suddenly decided to make the trip at that time. We saw in 
this the protecting hand of God.” 


THE SLAVE TRADER AND THE EXTRA CANOEMEN 
On a tour of missionary exploration on the headwaters of 
the Amazon, in eastern Peru, Missionary F. A. Stahl expe- 
rienced a deliverance through canoemen providentially impressed 
to join him at danger points, despite the evident planning of a 
slave trader to betray him to his death in the dangerous rapids. 
The missionary says: 


“In my journey I met several slave traders. I knew them 
well, as the Campa Indians had complained to us about them. 
One of the most noted of them all I had to deal with near the 
end of my journey. I asked for a canoe fully manned, and he 
gave me four men, saying that would be all right for the trip. 
I soon noticed that two of the four were not very strong men, 
but thought nothing of it, as the river did not seem very swift 
the first day out. 

“The evening of the first day we were hailed from the 
shore by three Indians, and as we put to shore, one, a great 
powerful fellow, jumped into the canoe, giving me to under- 
stand that he had come to help us on our journey. I thanked 
him, and the morning of the next day I was indeed glad for 
his help, as we passed several dangerous places. In the after- 
noon he asked to be put to shore, bade us good-by, and said that 
he was coming to the mission to visit us. He then jumped out 
and disappeared in the forest. 

‘Two days after this we were again hailed from the shore 
by a group of Campa Indians. As we stepped ashore, they 


TIMELY DELIVERERS 197 


greeted us in a very friendly way. We bought bananas from 
them, and as we started, two Indians stepped out of the group, 
remarking as they got into our canoe that they wanted to help 
us. I did not think much about this, as the water had been so 
calm the last two days, but we had gone only a few miles when 
we came to a rapids, one side of which was filled with fallen 
trees and the other side had a high bank against which the 
water rushed with frightful force. I confess that I became 
nervous as I saw the dangerous situation. I called a halt, and 
asked if there was no other way to get through. The two 
Indians who had gotten into our canoe shook their heads and 
grimly grasped their strong poles. We followed their example, 
and soon were battling for our very lives against the terrible 
current of the rapids. Even as we fought I realized that the 
great God had provided those two extra men for us, for they 
were more skilful than the others. 

“Many times during that awful half hour when it seemed 
that we must be dashed to pieces against the rocks, these two 
men would by a strong dexterous maneuver bring the canoe 
out of danger. The water dashed into the boat. The Indians 
groaned as they strained desperately to push the boat ahead. 
Poles were snapped and others grabbed up with the quickness 
of lightning. I saw now that the men were becoming exhausted. 
Their compressed lips were bloodless. I shouted words of en- 
couragement to them as I struggled at a pole with them, and 
just as it seemed we could not hold out another minute, we 
came to a sharp turn in the river where the current had lost 
its power. We sank down in the canoe utterly exhausted. 

“It was then I began to suspect that I had been given a 
canoe poorly manned on purpose by that slave hunter. This 
I afterward found was true, for no one ever attempts to go up 
this river with less than six men. God had supplied the lack. 
These two men stayed with me to the end of my journey by 
water, and when I offered to pay them they said, ‘ We want 
to help all we can.’ This is only one of the many instances of 
how God provided needed help on this journey.” 





BOLIVIAN SOLDIERS UNEXPECTEDLY TO THE RESCUE 


While on furlough in North America, Prof. C. P. Crager, 
of South America, told a story of the determined efforts of a 
priest to drive Missionary Reid Shepard away from his work 


198 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


among the Indians of Bolivia. Of the timely arrival of pro- 
tectors at the crisis of peril he says: 


“Finally an attack was planned for Sunday night at mid- 
night, on the occasion of a high religious feast, when usually 
liquor was freely flowing. They were going to do away with 
the missionaries and scatter the people. It seemed impossible, 
this time, unless God interposed to protect them, that they 
could escape. 

“Mr. and Mrs. Shepard were tired and worn, and retired 
early, thinking to get a little rest before the attack should come 
at midnight. They prayed earnestly as they retired, knowing 
that their lives were in jeopardy. An hour afterward, the 
Indians came and excitedly told them that the soldiers were 
coming. They thought the soldiers were coming to join the 
drunken Indians in their attack on the mission. 

“Missionary Shepard went out and saw twelve cavalrymen 
under the leadership of a lieutenant. But they had not come 
to destroy the mission. This is what had happened: 

“There was a friend of the mission living near by, a colonel, 
who heard of the plan of attack, and sent two telegrams, one 
to the president and one to the Indian commissioner of the 
government. These sent telegrams back to him to protect the 
mission. But he had no soldiers with which to do it. 

“Just at the right time a general of the Bolivian army came 
on from the capital, bound for another district. He had to pass 
the place where that colonel lives. The colonel handed the 
general those two telegrams, and said, ‘ Here is my instruction 
from the president and the commissioner, but I have no soldiers 
to carry it out. The general said, “Take mine.’ And just four 
hours before the planned attack was to come, they landed on 
our mission station to protect God’s servants —a lieutenant sent 
by order of the president and the minister of Indian affairs. 
It was a great triumph for the cause.” 


Menten, on 


““ KNOCK AGAIN ” 

The Christian colporteur passing from door to door cannot 
always know how timely some of these visits may be. When 
I was visiting in Australia, Evangelist L. D. A. Lemke, of the 
Avondale College, who was formerly connected with the pub- 
lishing department in that field, related to me the experience 
of a colporteur in Tasmania; 


TIMELY DELIVERERS 199 


“ He was a godly Christian man, and his brief visits were a 
blessing to many as he went from house to house taking orders. 
In one home in Tasmania he knocked and waited a moment 
with no response. He knocked again and again. No one 
answering, he was about to turn from the door when the im- 
pression came strongly upon him to remain and continue knock- 
ing. He knocked yet more earnestly for admittance, and in a 
few moments a woman appeared at the door. She looked 
disturbed. 

“* What do you want?’ she said. 

““T am showing books that help the people to come closer 
to the Lord,’ answered the colporteur. 

“She invited him in. He described his book and talked 
with her of the Lord and His mercy and love. He then asked 
the privilege of praying, and engaged in earnest prayer. The 
woman invited him to come again. On his second visit, she 
said to him: 

““Do you know what I was doing when you knocked at 
that door the first time you called?’ 

““No,’ said the colporteur. 

“* Well,’ she said, ‘I was fixing a rope to take my life.’ 

“Today this woman is a rejoicing Seventh-day Adventist, 
a candidate for immortal life.” 


But for the conviction that came upon his heart as a com- 
mand to remain and continue knocking, the colporteur would 
have passed on; but there was One who knew that inside the 
door was a discouraged and desperate soul in need of help 
that instant. 





ey oe, os 


Street Scene in Peking 
Looking north from the Ha-Ta-Men gate 


200 


The Changed Purpose 


He “hath sent His angel, and delivered His 
servants that trusted in Him, and have changed 
the king's word.” Daniel 3:28. 


*“IN THE NAME OF THE LORD ”’ 


WHEN there seemed no hope of escape, a young woman 
commanded a defiant guard “in the name of the Lord” to 
stand aside, and the fear of God came into that wicked man’s 
heart and into the hearts of a mob, compelling obedience. 

The Misses Prentice and Landis, in Kwangsi Province, 
China, were called to visit a Chinese woman who was ill in 
a village. The woman was an inquirer for truth. The ladies 
felt they must respond, though it was a perilous journey at 
that time. They committed themselves to God. 

The verse on their Morning Watch Calendar for that day 
was, “ Ye shall not need to fight in this battle; stand still, and 
see the salvation of God.” 

They needed that promise as a refuge before the day was 
done. The story is told in Dr. Robert Glover’s “ Ebenezer.” 

While visiting at the home of the sick woman, they found 
a mob gathering. The house was attacked. Miss Prentice 
‘ (later Mrs. Glover) said: 

“We hastened to try to assure the men that we had come 
on the invitation of Sin Shang Neung, and would leave at once, 
but they were now quite out of the mood of letting us go. We 
tried to push our way out, but when we reached the large outer 
courtyard, we were intercepted. 

“There we were, two young women, shut into an inclosed 
yard and surrounded by a crowd of several score of rude, angry 
Chinese, completely at their mercy — but God! 

“Of the insulting treatment received at their hands it is 


unnecessary to write. Several times it came to us to resort to 
force to defend ourselves and escape, but the precious message 


201 


202 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


of the morning, ‘ Ye shall not need to fight,’ was whispered in 
our hearts, and restrained us. 

“Then for a moment they somehow got to quarreling among 
themselves, and we slipped through the crowd toward the gate; 
but only to find it barred and a man standing against it. For 
the first time a sense of our utter helplessness swept over us, 
but the promise, ‘ Stand still, and see the salvation of God,’ 
flashed to mind and upheld us. 

‘We bade the man step aside and allow us to pass out, but 
he and the crowd of onlookers only jeered. Again we spoke 
more emphatically, but again they laughed us to scorn. Our 
hope was in God alone. 

“Looking up to Him for help, it came to us in the name 
of the Lord to command him to step back, and I did so. For 
one moment such a strange hush fell upon the crowd, and 
without a word the doorkeeper stepped back while we quickly 
passed out. God Himself had delivered us!” 


‘A HAIRBREADTH ESCAPE ”’ 


So Mr. A. E. Glover characterizes one of the deliverances 
that came to his family and Miss Gates, an associate who went 
with them through the chain of marvelous experiences de- 
scribed in the book, “ A Thousand Miles of Miracle.” They 
were fleeing out of far Shansi, during the Boxer uprising of 
1900. Their Boxer guards, driving them on, had increased in 
numbers and ferocity. All the upper garments of the party 
had been torn from them. Mr. Glover says: 


““As the men faced us again with the garments in their 
hands, I looked at them and said: 

“*Ni-men tsui shi ren, ie muh iu ren ch’ing’ (‘ You are 
human beings, it is true; but you have not the feelings of your 
kind ’) — about as stinging a reproach as one could well address 
to a Chinaman’s ears; containing, too, a righteous, pertinent, 
and legitimate rebuke. I am bound to say that I was not 
prepared for the effect it produced. 

“To my amazement the word went home like an arrow to 
the mark. Sullenly they took the garments, first one and then 
the other, and flung them back to their respective owners. I 
have that very garment of my wife’s in my keeping at this 
moment — a token that speaks louder to me, every time I look 


THE CHANGED PURPOSE 203 


at it, of the living power of the living God, than any treatise 
could. Platform ‘ Evidences of Christianity ’ undoubtedly have 
a use and value of their own; but they are dreary things to me 
beside that soiled and tattered ‘evidence’ of a God that ‘ worketh 
for those who wait for Him.’ It also speaks to my heart as 
nothing else does of a Christ that ‘liveth in’ His own, in the 
manifested beauty of His own life—a life that could only 
be divine. 

“What the effect of this incident was upon the bystanders 
I cannot say. I only know that one by one they melted away, 
and erelong the four Boxers alone were left with us. Resuming 
their seat on the knoll, they again talked together, while we 
continued to cry to God for their removal. 

“Once more they confronted us, this time with the order 
to get up and follow them back to Lu-an city. We replied that 
it was impossible — we were too tired to attempt it. If they 
wished us to go, they must fetch a cart for us. 

“A cart for foreign devils!’ they cried; ‘ we'll fetch ropes, 
and we'll fetch men; and if you can’t walk, you shall be 
dragged.’ And with a mocking laugh and the information that 
they would be back directly, they shouldered their weapons and 
walked swiftly away, the whole batch of them, and in a few 
seconds we were alone! 

“Our God had done for us the impossible thing that we 
asked, and the mountain that was ready to fall on us had been 
removed in answer to the prayer that gave glory to God. The 
faith that offered it had been severely tested when the natural 
impossibility had been only increased instead of diminished by 
the sight of the added numbers, who also were against us. But 
“if God be for us, who can be against us?’ ‘Therefore we may 
boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man 
shall do unto me.’ 

“With real awe in our hearts at what God had wrought, we 
watched the men disappear. It seemed strange that they should 
not have left a guard; for two, or even one, would have sufficed 
for the errand on which they were bent. But no: the thing 
was of God, according to the terms of our petition that He 
would ‘be pleased to take them right away, one and all;’ and 
to Him we ascribed the honor due unto His name. 

“The moment the last was out of sight, Sheng-min said, 
‘They are gone, thanks be to the Lord’s grace! Now come 
quick: we have not a moment to lose.’ In an instant he had 


204 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


caught Hedley in his arms, and I Hope; and the next, we were 
in full flight.” 
‘S10 IS JBHOVAH!: ” 


That was the cry of the fierce Fijians who felt an over- 
mastering power restraining them, and reversing their very 
wills. In an old book, “‘ The Cannibal Islands,” the story is 
told of some native Christians of Viwa, whose canoe was dis- 
abled along the coast of Viti Levu. The outrigger broke. The 
men of Viti Levu rushed to their canoes to capture the disabled 
boat and plunder its cargo and take its crew for a cannibal 
feast. The account says: 


“When they were near enough to see that the canoe was 
from Viwa, revenge increased their eagerness; for only a short 
time previous several of their friends had been murdered by 
Viwans. 

“Hundreds of armed men assembled on the reef near the 
canoe, which lay tossed about in danger of being capsized at 
any moment, while the people on board worked hard to keep 
her right, and prayed earnestly to the Almighty to save them 
from the hands of their enemies, who, with brandished weapons, 
cried out, ‘ You are in our power! Now we will kill you in 
return for the murder of our friends!’ 

“A young man of the company cried to them, ‘ Kill us if 
you wish; but know that we did not kill your friends. Before 
they were killed we were Christians; and since that we have 
left off doing such evil deeds. It will be better for you not to 
kill us, but come and help us to bail the water out of our canoe.’ 

“This answer restrained the anger of the heathen, and 
some of them even went to the canoe, helped them to bail it 
out and lash the outrigger, so that the canoe could safely sail 
away ! 

“Heathens who heard of it said, ‘It is Jehovah! for nothing 
like this was ever known in Fiji before!’ ” 


THEIR MOTHER’S BIBLE 
Two children in a Catholic land of Eastern Europe saw a 
cruel man’s heart entirely changed and made new by their 
faithfulness to their dead mother’s Bible. This story was told 
by Field Secretary J. C. Raft, of the European Division, at a 
great missions conference: 


THE CHANGED PURPOSE 205 


‘““Some time ago, at a baptism, a mob came, with a priest 
as leader, and began to stone our people who were baptized. 
Then they threw them into the river; but they all got out except 
one mother. A stone had hit her in the head, and she drowned. 
She had two nice children, about eight and ten years of age, 
and after she was buried the neighbors said, ‘ Now the mother 
is dead, we will take her children, and put them into a family 
where they will be brought up to be Catholics.’ 

“The children were taken by a man who was cruel. The 
first Sabbath he looked for them, but could not find them. Well, 
he went out into the barn, and away up in a corner he found 
that little girl and boy, with their mother’s Bible, reading it, 
and keeping the Sabbath. He took them and gave them a hard 
whipping, took the Bible away, and said, ‘I will teach you.’ 

“The next Sabbath he found them in the same place, and 
he whipped them unmercifully. He was so cruel that the 
neighbors went to the authorities and said, ‘ You will have to 
stop it; he is killing those poor children.’ 

“The man was called up, and the children were taken as 
witnesses. The judge sentenced him to prison; but those two 
children walked up to the judge and said, ‘ We know we have 
had a hard time; we know this man has treated us unmercifully, 
and has whipped us cruelly; but, O judge, if he will only prom- 
ise not to do it any more, please let him go back home. Don’t 
punish him. Our mother’s Bible tells us to pray for our 
enemies.’ 

“And, do you know, those children talked in such a way 
to that judge that he let the man go, and the man went back 
home with the children. 

“When he got home, he took the children to his side and 
said, ‘ Children, you have a religion that is better than mine. 
1 will not whip you again. Will you forgive me?’ And that 
man today is elder of one of our churches over in Europe. 

“Nothing is too hard for God. He is able to do what He 
has promised. O that we could trust Him more fully!” 


HOW MINDS WERE CHANGED AND AN AMAZONIAN 
MISSION WAS FOUNDED 
The overruling hand of Providence was clearly seen in the 
founding of mission work among the savage Indians on the 
headwaters of the Amazon. Missionary F. A. Stahl, former 
pioneer of the Indian work of Seventh-day Adventists in the 


206 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


highlands of Lake Titicaca, has pioneered this work also in the 
Amazon wilds. His story of God’s leadings and deliverances 
in the founding of that work is as follows: 


“ After selecting a site for the mission, I found that the 
land was owned by an English corporation with headquarters 
in Lima, Peru. The important thing of course was to get this 
land from the company. After making it a subject of prayer, 
I visited the president of this corporation, and told him what 





The Perene Mission 


F. A. and Mrs. Stahl move into the first missionary home among the 
savages of the Amazon country. 


we wanted. ‘This looks good to me,’ he said, ‘ but you go up 
into the interior, and get the O. K. of our coffee plantation 
manager there.’ 

“So I returned into the forest, where this company has great 
coffee plantations along the border of a dense jungle where the 
savages live. The manager of these plantations is not a Prot- 
estant, and somehow I felt in my heart that the Lord would 
have to do something special for us if we ever got his signature 
to our application for this land where we wished to establish 
the mission. 

“After praying earnestly, I got on my mule one day and 
rode thirty miles to his headquarters. When I arrived, the 
caretaker said, ‘ You cannot see the manager, because he is very 
ill.’ I quickly pulled out a card and wrote a greeting to him, 


THE CHANGED PURPOSE 207 


signed my name, and asked the servant to deliver it at once. 
Then I went to get my mule ready for the return journey. 

“But before we got away, the servant came rushing back 
and said, ‘ The manager wants to see you at once.’ I was shown 
to his room, and found him confined to his bed, suffering agonies. 
An examination proved that he had a very bad case of auto- 
intoxication. At once I began eliminative treatment, and by 
the blessing of the Lord he was at ease within an hour. 

“As he fell back on the pillows greatly relieved, he said, 
“What did you come here for?’ 

“* Well,’ I said, ‘I don’t wish to trouble you when you are 
not feeling well.’ But he said he was feeling fine after the 
treatments, so I took out my fountain pen and the application 
for this land, 750 acres, put it in his hand, and told him all I 
wanted was his signature. 

““You shall have it immediately,’ he said, and added a few 
words of recommendation. I took this back to Lima, and we 
got our grant of land free of charge. 

“ After eight months of hard work, we had our mission 
quite well established. The savages came to us for help, and 
to be taught about the true God. Many of them began keeping 
the seventh-day Sabbath, and among these were some employed 
on the coffee plantations. Several large companies were raised 
up in near-by villages. 

“This angered our opposers very much, and they imme- 
diately determined to force us to leave that part of the country, 
by stirring up the manager against us. Again and again they 
went to him, telling him he had done wrong in giving us this 
land and allowing our mission to be located there. 

“ Finally, one day he sent for me, and told me that we must 
not teach these people to keep the Sabbath, but that we must 
teach them to work on the Sabbath. 

“T explained to him that it would be impossible for us to 
go directly against the command of God, and told him about 
our beliefs. 

“ Becoming very angry because I did not yield to him, he 
left his chair, and began to pace the room, saying, ‘I will place 
every obstacle in your way!’ 

“T quietly and kindly told him that I had heard this from 
other people when we were at work in the Lake Titicaca region, 
but that I believed the Lord would stand by us. Finally he 
quieted down, and shook hands with me as I left. 


208 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


‘But he immediately wrote to the president of the corpora- 
tion, greatly exaggerating the situation, telling him that we were 
not only teaching the natives not to work on the Sabbath, but 
hindering their work on Friday, telling them to prepare their 
food on that day, and as they did not want to work on Sunday, 
three days were lost. He placed the matter before the company 
in terms of dollars and cents. Asa result of this, the officials 
sent back word that the mission must leave at once. 

‘When | received this message, | got down on my knees 
and laid the matter before the Lord. The work was going well. 
We had a growing interest, a nice school filled with promising 
young people, and it seemed that we could not possibly leave 
them. Jl asked God to step in and work for us. 

‘““A few weeks after this I learned that the president of the 
corporation, whom we will call Mr. A., was coming down to 
visit the plantations. We found out later that it was his purpose 
to enforce the ruling that we must leave. 

‘““As soon as I heard he was coming, after praying earnestly, 
I felt impressed to go out to the village where he and his party 
would leave their automobiles in exchange for saddle animals, 
so I would be able to talk to this man on the narrow trail leading 
to the plantations twenty miles away. I knew he could not 
escape from me there on a trail four feet wide, with a high 
stone wall on one side and a great precipice reaching down to 
the river on the other. 


GOD’S MEANS OF DELIVERANCE 


“Arriving at this village, | waited for his coming. “Auto- 
mobiles usually reach there at ten o’clock in the morning, so 
that the dangerous trip over the trail may be made before dark. | 
1 waited with absolute calmness and assurance, positive that 
God would do something special for His work. Friends, our 
Father in heaven has a care for His work and His people, 
wherever they may be in this world. 

‘“ Well, I waited all day, and Mr. A. and his party did not 
come. I thought: Something is happening already. Perhaps 
the Lord has taken off the wheels of his automobile, as He did 
the chariot wheels of the Egyptians when they followed the 
children of Israel! Finally at six o’clock in the evening they 
arrived. Upon inquiry I learned that they expected to continue 
their journey to the plantations that night over the dangerous 
trail in the darkness. Immediately I rode my mule to the out- 


THE CHANGED PURPOSE 209 


skirts of the village, and waited for them at the entrance to 
the trail. 

“Finally they came, with their flashlights leading the way. 
As Mr. A. passed, I fell in behind his horse, and said, * Good 
evening. He hardly answered. 1| said, ‘ Mr. A., I would like 
to talk to you about the mission.’ 

“< Well,’ he replied, ‘1 don’t want to talk to you!’ 

“*But,’ 1 said, ‘1 want to tell you how wonderfully the 
work is going forward; how savages are turning trom their 
savagery. I talked fast and earnestly. 1 told him about the 
school, of the young people coming in from the forests, free 
as the air, and learning how to read and write. I pointed out 
to him that some day the whole neighborhood wouid reap the 
benefits of the education we were making possible. 

“Finally he said, ‘I will see you tomorrow at twelve 
o’clock.’ 

“That was rather a strange hour to set for meeting me, 
so I repeated, ‘Mr. A., do you really mean twelve o’clock to- 
morrow?’ 

“* Yes, sir, he said, ‘twelve o’clock.’ 

“* All right. Good night,’ I said, and spurred my mule on 
ahead. He did not answer, and by that time it was so dark 
that I could not see my hand before my face. 

“I knew that about ten miles ahead. there was a curve in 
the trail, and that the people had thrown up a road cutting that 
curve in two, saving about five hundred yards in distance. It 
was used only in the daytime, but I felt that the Lord would 
guide my mule safely across, and He did, bringing me to the 
home of a Spanish triend about four miles from the coffee 
plantations. ‘Lhere | received a cordial welcome, and as | re- 
tired, | thought to myself, ‘ 1 have plenty of time, and will take 
a good rest. 1 can go over those tour miles quickly, so | will 
sleep until eight o’clock in the morning.’ I was very tired, 
as | had been up several nights. 

“But instead | awoke at four o’clock in the morning with 
the impression that | must go to the plantation at once. | 
dressed and went out to saddle my mule. When my host came 
to the door asking what was the trouble, | explained to him 
that I felt I must go at once to the plantation. * 1am not going 
to take time to go the regular way across the bridge,’ [| said, 
‘{ am going to swim the river.’ 

“*But,’ he said, ‘that is a very swift river. You don’t 
want to do that. We never risk it!’ 


14 


210 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


“* Oh, yes,’ I told him, ‘God will care for me; I must go 
at once. All I ask is that you guide me through the forest and 
show me the best place.’ 

“So we went through the jungle, my mule plunged into the 
water, and I reached the other side all right, going up to the 
plantation headquarters on 
a gallop. 

“In the doorway of 
the house I saw an Eng- 
lishman standing. He 
rushed out to greet me. 
‘Oh,’ he said, ‘ I’m so glad 
you came! We have been 
waiting for you, and won- 
dering where you have 
been since last night. Mr. 
A. fell over the precipice 
in the darkness, and is 
very badly injured.’ 

“T found the man all 
bandaged up. ‘ O Doctor,’ 
he exclaimed, ‘ I’m so glad 
to see you! Last night, as 
we were going along in the 
darkness, my horse sud- 
denly seemed to be walk- 
ing in space, and the next 
thing I knew I found 
myself rolling down an 
embankment toward the 
river. I don’t know what 
condition I am in. Won’t 
you take care of me?’ 





A Dangerous Road 


The point on Chamchamayo River trail ue 
where General Cooper’s horse went The manager stood 


the embankment. j 
over mbankme by, and he said, ‘I have 


taken care of Mr. A., and I think he is all right.’ 

“* Well,’ I said, ‘I will look him over. Please get me some 
hot water,’ and this and that and the other thing I called for. 
He immediately got me everything for which I asked. It some- 
how reminded me of Haman, and his humbling himself before 
Mordecai. I got out my instruments, and probed and cleaned 
a very serious wound on the injured man’s head. A _ broken 


THE CHANGED PURPOSE Zit 


branch had penetrated the skull. It took about forty minutes 
to fix him up. When I had finished, he said, ‘I feel like a new 
man; I have a new lease on life. Now what shall I do?’ 

“T said, ‘ You must stay in bed for three days.’ 

“*T will do anything you say,’ he answered. ‘And now I 
know you don’t care to stay until twelve o’clock to talk about 
that mission, do you? Would you just as soon talk now?’ 

“* Certainly,’ I answered, and he asked the manager to go 
and get a copy of the letter he had written, containing his 
accusations against us. 

“While the manager was out of the room, I had a very 
friendly listener, and I told him all about our mission and our 
work. The manager returned with the word that he could not 
find the letter. ‘ Never mind,’ said Mr. A., ‘just tell me what 
you have against this man.’ 

“At that the manager became very much confused, and 
could not seem to get down to the point. ‘Come,’ said Mr. A. 
at last, ‘tell us just what you have against the mission and this 
man. But the manager could not seem to remember. ‘It was 
something about the Sabbath,’ Mr. A. prompted him. 

en eves, ehoesdid, his memory, retreshed,=yes, che iis 
teaching the people not to work on the seventh-day Sabbath, 
and we are losing money.’ 

“* Well,’ said Mr. A., ‘I don’t know about that, and I don’t 
know about the Sabbath. God made heaven and earth in six 
days, and I don’t see why Saturday wouldn’t be a good day to 
keep, as this man teaches.’ 

““ No,’ insisted the manager, ‘we cannot do that here.’ 

““Maybe you can,’ Mr. A. replied. And turning to me, 
he said, ‘Maybe you can teach him after a while. You go 
forward with your work, and we will help you in every way 
we can.’ 

“Then turning to the manager, he said, ‘ Are you satisfied 
with what I have told him—to go ahead with the mission?’ 

“*“ Ves,’ he answered. 

“ «Shall we put it in writing?’ Mr. A. asked him. 

*““ No,’ he answered, ‘1 understand.’ 

“He put the same question to me, but I replied that I 
understood the situation perfectly, and bade him good-by. 

“Three days later I went back and found Mr. A. doing nicely. 
At his invitation I remained for dinner, and from one o’clock 
in the afternoon until ten-thirty at night this man, and an 


TAS MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


English captain who had accompanied him, and his son, plied 
me with questions concerning our work and our beliefs. I had 
a splendid opportunity to preach the third angel’s ee to 
them, and the Lord helped me to improve it. 

“T want to say in closing that the manager is now very 
much interested in religious things, and asked me just before 
I left the mission to attend this meeting, if I would not tell 
him more about the Bible upon my return to South America. 

“This is only one of the many providences in our work. 
It is just a simple story, but it shows how God used the medical 
work in a very special way to save a mission.” 


‘* AT THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD” 


The decision had been reached by the Chinese, in the Boxer 
uprising, that the women of Mr. A. E. Glover’s party, Mrs. 
Glover and Miss Gates, were to be killed as their cart reached 
the field beyond the temple shrine. Mr. Glover and the children 
were to be carried on to Tsehcheo, where they were to be dealt 
with by official condemnation. But the women, supposedly 
possessing an especially malign influence to cause the drouth, 
were to be sacrificed to the rain god- near the shrine. Mr. 
Glover’s account tells us: 


“ Notwithstanding the fact that the word had gone forth, 
and that everything pointed to its accomplishment, we still did 
not cease to make our prayer to God, our refuge and strength, 
that He would even now show Himself strong in our behalf, 
and save us from the very jaws of death for His own glory. 

“As the escort emerged at last from the inn, followed by 
the mules, we knew that the critical moment had come. The 
animals were put in, and the order to ‘go on’ was given. Amid 
a silence strangely like the hush that had prevailed when we 
left our morning inn, the trollies moved forward. An awe that 
rooted them to the spot where they stood settled upon the crowd; 
and instead of being driven to yonder field at the right of the 
shrine, we passed on through the gate to the Tsehcheo road. 

*“‘ At the last moment the decision had been reversed, whether 
through the irresolution of the village elders, or from whatever 
cause, matters not. The simple fact remains, ‘to the memorial 
of Thy great goodness,’ that ‘I sought the Lord and He heard 
me, and delivered me from all my fears.’ I needed to fall back 


THE CHANGED PURPOSE BS 


upon no second causes for what was so evidently supernatural. 
Indeed, Elisha’s experience in Dothan was not more real than 
ours in that nameless Chinese village. For just as then ‘the 
mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about 
Elisha;’ so also were we given to know now that the angel 
of the Lord had encamped round about us who feared Him, 
and had delivered us. 

“That it was in no sense due to any change in the escorts’ 
disposition toward us was evident, not only from their conver- 
sation, but also from the fact that they made one more deter- 
mined effort to get rid of us before the journey’s end. They 
sent on two of their number to warn the people, at the last 
place of any size that we should pass, of our approach, and 
to incite them to fall on us at a given signal, which signal was 
to be the raising of the bludgeon at the ‘ present.’ 

“My heart quailed at the scene before us as we approached. 
A mob of several thousand had assembled to meet us, and it 
seemed incredible that we could run the gantlet of the long 
street unscathed. Never shall I forget the feeling of momentary 
terror when, as we entered the gate, I saw the soldiers suddenly 
bring their bludgeons to the ‘ present.’ What happened? The 
sense of terror gave place to that of perfect peace as the word 
came almost audibly to me, ‘ Fear not; for no man shall set on 
thee to hurt thee;’ and then of awe and wonder as I saw the 
tumultuous crowd fall back on either side, and like the waters 
of old ‘stand up on an heap.’ The same mysterious hush we 
had known before was upon them as we slowly traversed the 
narrow path between; and to the unconcealed amazement of 
the disgusted soldiery, not a soul broke bounds, or gave heed 
to the summons to fall on us. 

“This was the last attempt the escort made to hurt us; 
and marveling in themselves at the things their eyes had seen, 
they brought us in due course to Tsehcheo. 

“Faint and weary indeed we were at the end of that terrible 
and wonderful journey; but hunger, thirst, and aching limbs 
were forgotten in the realization of its threefold deliverance. 
Jordan had been driven back before our eyes; and driven back. 
we knew well, ‘at the presence of the Lord.’ ” 


The Times 


AN AWE-INSPIRING AUSTRALIAN BUSH FIRE 


A Great Tree Burning in Fern Tree Gully, Near Melbourne, With the Appearance 
of Forked Lightning in a Thunder Storm 
214 





On the Wings of the Wind 


“The Lord caused the sea to go back bya strong 
east wind all that night.” Exodus 14:21. 


THEIR HOME SAVED 
Out of Russia, in the days of the revolution, came the 
following story of the experience of an Adventist worker: 


“He was in a village that was being bombarded by revolu- 
tionists. The wind was blowing strongly, and they set fire to 
the side of the village from which the wind came. And those 
straw-thatched buildings, when dry, burn very quickly. Our 
brother, who was our minister there, and his wife and children 
were in their little home. They knew that the fire was nearing 
them. I shall not say that you should have done as they did; 
but they told me that the determination came to them, ‘ God 
has placed us here as light-bearers for Him, and we will remain 
until He sends us away.’ 

“They knelt down in the little grass-thatched cottage in 
which they were living, and began to cry to God for deliverance. 
While they were praying, the house next to theirs caught fire. 
Then suddenly the wind turned, and blew as heavily from the 
opposite direction. The fire was beaten back, and their house 
was saved, and our workers praised God for His salvation.” 


DELIVERED FROM FOREST FIRE 

It means something to the missionary colporteur in the 
“back blocks” of Australia to be away from his little home 
when the bush fires are on; but the Lord’s business calls for 
steady service. Colporteur Maybee related this experience to 
me some years ago: 

“TI was away from home. The fires were burning in the 
bush, and had swept down upon the little place we had been 
trying to carve out by the edge of the woods. My wife and 
boy had fought the fire long as it pushed on toward our place, 
but it seemed of no use. A strong wind kept bringing the 
flames on. They had burned a gap in the bush around the edge 
of the place, but the fire jumped it. 


215 


216 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


“Tt is no use,’ my wife said to the boy. ‘ We cannot stop 
it. Come on, we will get out the horse and trap, and save what 
we can before it reaches us.’ 

“So my wife and son left the bush and gave up the fight. 
They got out the horse and trap, and were packing what house- 
hold goods they could quickly lay hands on. As they worked 
hastily, looking only at the task in hand, they felt a cool wind 
blowing. It was from the south, while before the wind had 





Painting by Stanley Berkeley 
The Terrors of a Bush Fire 


been blowing from the north. The sudden change was so 
distinct and refreshing that they stopped to see what it meant. 
The boy, running out to the outbuildings, called back, 

““Tt is all right, mother, the wind is blowing the fire back.’ 

“The mother went out, and sure enough the fire was re- 
treating. It had burned to the fence just back of the sheds; 
some of the fence posts were alight, and the boy was putting 
the fire out. Our little place was saved. 

“* Well, the mother said, ‘come on, we will get something 
to eat now.’ 

“They had been fighting the fire and had not stopped to eat. 
While eating they heard the crackling of the flames, and looking 
out they saw the wind had swung around again, but as already 


ON THE WINGS OF THE WIND SAWS 


the fire had burned everything up to the sheds, making a good 
fireguard, there was nothing more to burn there, and the 
fire swept past the place on both sides, still leaving it un- 
harmed.” 
WHILE THE ISLANDERS PRAYED 
On the island of Mangaia the Christian converts were 
fasting and praying for deliverance. Out at sea the veteran 





Seventh-day Adventist Church, Rarotonga, Cook Islands 


missionary, John Williams, was sailing for another island, all 
unconscious of the peril on Mangaia. In the book, ‘‘ Mission- 
ary Life in the South Seas,” James Hutton says of Williams: 


“He had no intention of touching at that island, but was 
forced to run for it against his will, in consequence of con- 
trary winds. 

“After the anchor was dropped, the ship remained for some 
time seemingly unnoticed, until a solitary individual came off 
in a canoe, and reported that it was a day of fasting and prayer, 
as the heathen had threatened to attack the settlement in great 
force on the morrow, and exterminate all the Christians. 

“Recognizing the hand of Providence in the winds which 
drove him to Mangaia, and perceiving that not a moment was 


218 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


to be lost, Mr. Williams slipped into the canoe with three chiefs 
from Rarotonga, and being lifted over the reef on the crest 
of a billow, landed on the part of the island that happened 
to be uninhabited.” 


Williams pressed on into the hostile region, placated the 
chiefs, and persuaded them to a peace. 


“In the end the idolatrous chiefs not only engaged not to 
molest the Christians, but gave permission to as many of their 





Rata and His Family 
First native converts of our mission on Rarotonga 


people as pleased to proceed to the settlement for instruction. 
Several individuals thereupon accompanied Mr. Williams, and 
placed themselves under the native teachers, and shortly after- 
ward the bulk of the population was brought to prefer light 
to darkness. The adverse wind had in truth proved itself a 
‘ministering angel.’ ” 
THE BLOWING OF THE SOUTH WIND 

Samuel Pollard tells how the blowing of the south wind, 
together with the prayers and efforts of the missionaries, saved 
a Christian village in far Kweichow, China. It was among the 
Miao hill tribes. The Miaos, like the Karens of Burma, have 


ON THE WINGS OF THE WIND 219 


preserved in their tribal poetry wonderfully distinct traditions 
of creation and the flood. For instance, one folk song runs, 


“Who made heaven and earth? 
Who made insects? 
Who made men? 
I that speak don’t know.” 
The answering stanza is, 


“Heavenly King made heaven and earth, 
Heavenly King made insects, 
Heavenly King made men. 
How is it you don’t know?” 


However, the Miaos made it hard in the hills where Pollard 
worked. Enemies had determined to burn a Christian village 
that had grown up about the mission station; and the intent 
was to kill the missionaries in the confusion of the night. A 
north wind was blowing, and the fire was set on the north edge 
of the houses so that the wind would sweep the flames upon 
the village. All were up that midnight, fighting the flames and 
praying for deliverance. Suddenly the wind veered straight 
about. In his “ Tight Corners in China,” Pollard says: 

“The village was saved. The Miaos whose homes were 


thus destroyed never uttered a harsh word in my hearing. 
Patiently they bore the loss. 

“ What of the men in hiding? They also watched the fight 
with the flames, and at last came to the conclusion that they 
had better leave the Christians alone. 

“They may have noticed how God sent the south wind to 
blow the flames away from the village, and possibly in their 
hearts they superstitiously feared to attack the flame-fighting, 
fearless foreign men. At daybreak they were seen quietly 
slinking back to their homes, defeated.” 


THE CHINESE PASTOR’S EXPERIENCE 
Thrice over, in answer to prayer, this Chinese evangelist 
saw the hand of God turn back the devouring flames. On a 
trip up the Grand Canal of China, Director H. J. Doolittle came 
to a town, and found that a large area of houses had just been 
wiped out by fire. He says: 


220 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


“ The fire had started in a thatch-roofed house about a city 
block from the chapel, and with a strong wind blowing, had 
rapidly advanced toward it. The pastor, a Chinese brother, 
saw that there was no help, humanly speaking, unless God 
should intervene. Going into the chapel, he knelt and implor- 
ingly besought God to save His house of worship, and thus 
glorify His name in the presence of the heathen. 

“While he was thus prostrated in prayer, the fire came 
roaring on. To the left of our buildings was one in which 500 
five-gallon tins of kerosene oil were stored. On the other side 
was a wine merchant’s store, well stocked with alcohol and 
wines. Thus, to the human eye, there was no escape from the 
flames, and furthermore it did not seem apparent that it was 
God’s will to stay the conflagration. 

“On, on, came the fire. The building next to ours was 
already burning. Ours would have been next, but the hand of 
God intervened. The wind changed just at the critical moment, 
sweeping the treacherous flames back and away from our build- 
ing, leaving it a monument of His power. 

“And this was not all. Two weeks later another fire broke 
out on the opposite side of the chapel. But again in answer to 
petitions before the throne of grace the hungry flames were 
baffled. 

“‘T remember, too, another similar experience that this same 
Chinese preacher passed through seven or eight years ago. 
At that time he had been a member of the church for only 
about two years. We had placed him in charge of a little 
station on the Huai River, in the province of Anhwei, where 
he was preparing to conduct a tent effort. He had already 
received the tent, and was waiting for some other workers to 
arrive and assist him in setting up the tent and conducting the 
effort. 

“One night during the interim of his waiting, the call of 
‘Fire!’ was heard, and soon the streets were filled with hurry- 
ing men, women, and children, carrying what they could of 
their more treasured belongings. A strong wind was blowing. 
The thatched roofs, undampened by any rain for weeks, were 
but food for the voracious fire. In this instance, too, the wind 
was bearing the fire directly toward the chapel. Neighbors and 
friends came to the chapel, desiring to assist our pastor in carry- 
ing away as many as possible of the more valuable things. But 
in place of complying, as most of us would have been only too 


ON THE WINGS OF THE WIND 221 


glad to do, he kindly but firmly refused them, locked the door 
of the chapel to make sure that they would not execute their 
kind offer, then threw himself on the ground before the rostrum, 
and prayed in the agony of his heart. 

“*O God,’ he prayed, ‘answer this prayer of Thine un- 
worthy servant! O Father, save this Thy place of worship 
to the glory of Thy name! ‘Thou knowest how I have told 
these poor benighted people of their useless worship of their 
gods of wood and stone! O God, Thou knowest how I have 
pleaded with them to give up their lives of sin, and worship 
Thee, the true God, the living God, who answers prayer! If 
I now turn and flee from here like these other helpless ones 
from pleading to deaf and helpless idols, will they not mock 
and say, “ Wherein is thy God better than our own?” Hear 
then, my Father; let not Thy name be mocked!’ 

“ Thus, like Hezekiah of old, when besieged by the Assyrian 
hosts, this Chinese servant of the Lord took the matter to his 
heavenly Father, and continued there, prostrate in prayer, while 
the fire came roaring and leaping on like some frenzied giant. 
On, on, came the fiery demon, devouring lowly homes of straw 
and grass at a lap of his tongue of flame, befouling the night 
air with his hot breath of smoke and showers of flaming cinders. 
Nearing God’s sacred house, it opened wide its mouth, preparing 
to engulf it within a throat of flame, when, lo, the wind changed, 
and it was driven back. God, in answer to that humble prayer, 
had saved His lowly place of worship! ” 


On the Waters 


“Which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in 
the mighty waters.’ Isaiah 43:16. 


THE ANSWER FROM THE SEA 
In the early times of missionary work among the South 
Sea Islands, John Turner, a pioneer in the Friendly group, 
had word that a chief on a remote island was calling for teach- 
ers. He sent word of this opening to the society in London. 
That old volume, “ The Missionary World Encyclopedia,” tells 
how the answer came back from London: 


“While waiting at Nukualofa, in a state of considerable 
anxiety and suspense, in the month of January, 1830, an inci- 
dent occurred which clearly shows the superintending provi- 
dence of God in the affairs of the missionary enterprise. 

““A small box was washed on shore, and brought to Mr. 
Turner by one of the natives. On being opened, it was found 
to contain a letter from the missionary secretaries, giving the 
sanction of the committee for the extension of the mission in 
the Friendly Islands, and the appointment of a missionary to 
Haabai without further delay. 

“The vessel by which this communication had been sent, 
a schooner from Sydney, had foundered at sea, and all on 
board were lost. It is said that neither vessel nor crew, nor 
any of the goods with which she had been freighted, were ever 
seen or heard of again. The package containing that letter 
alone, a messenger of mercy for a people waiting for the law 
of the Lord, guided by Him whom wind and sea obey, escaped 
the general wreck, and was cast on shore at the right place and 
at the right time to relieve the minds of the anxious missionaries, 
and to enable them to go forward and enter the openings which 
appeared before them for the proclamation of the glorious 
gospel of the blessed God.” 


GENTLY LIFTED OVER THE REEFS 
A providential deliverance that brought a party “ unto their 
desired haven”’ is told by Missionary Ross James, of the Aus- 


222 


ON THE WATERS 223 


tralasian Seventh-day Adventist society, working in the cannibal 
portion of the New Hebrides. He says: 


“We were traveling by launch from the western coast of 
Santo. I had Mrs. James on this trip. The missionary’s wife 
is the greatest asset in helping the savage peoples. Somehow 
she seems to have a stronger influence to soften and subdue hard 
hearts. And, too, the wife often wants to make these journeys, 
to share difficulties and dangers in companionship with the hus- 
band. It is hard for the wife to be at home, waiting in un- 
certainty, while the husband is perhaps kept a week or two 
weeks beyond the expected time of return. 

“We were this time driven onto the beach by a storm, gas 
tank and engine flooded with water. We got safely on land, 
and spent two days putting engine and boat to rights. Next 
morning we were off. When we got round the point of Santo, 
we came into heavy seas. It was raining and blowing. We 
made but ten miles in eight hours. The engine was not working 
properly. We knew we must run for shelter, and here is where 
we plainly saw the wonderful deliverance of God. 

“T knew there was an opening into a reef along the shore. 
Here would be safety if only we could make the narrow open- 
ing, which was but little wider than the boat. As we drove in 
on heavy sea toward the passage, I was surprised to see the 
opening filled with low rocks. I had gone in before at high 
tide and had not known that the rocks were at water level at 
low tide. We could only utter a prayer, and our boat was lifted 
by the waves and deposited on the rocks so gently it did not 
even jar us. There we rested on the rock. The next wave that 
came rolling up lifted us and again set us down gently on an- 
other rock in the middle of the passage. So narrow was the 
opening that I put out my hand and felt the sides of the rock. 
The launch rested quietly upon the rock, balanced as evenly and 
naturally as though in the sea. Then came a third heavy sea 
breaking upon the reef, and the waves carried the launch quite 
over the impassable barrier, and brought us safely into the 
quiet waters of the lagoon. We could only, with melting hearts, 
give thanks to God whose hand had so marvelously lifted us 
over the impassable barriers, and brought us safely into the 
desired haven, where we rested until the storm was over.” 


Said Mr. James at a great missions conference: 


“T could tell other experiences where God has delivered 
us from the terrible storms that sweep over these islands. On 


224 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


three occasions our little vessels were thrown onto the beaches, 
but no harm came to them. God has blessed our work. 

“But the greatest thrill that can come to any missionary 
is to see these savage, degraded men learn to love God and 
serve Him, and to see harmony and love come in among the 
people, instead of the tribal wars and strife.” 


PRAYING AND BOAT BUILDING ON PITCAIRN ISLAND 


While visiting Australia a few years ago, I met Missionary 
M. k. Adams, just returned from lonely Pitcairn Island, where 
he had conducted a school. He told a story of answered prayer 
and providential care. 

During the war the ships ceased calling at the island. “ We 
longed for a touch with the outside world,” he said, “ not only 
to learn of events, but to secure needed supplies.” 

At last they made it a subject of earnest prayer. 

“Then it was,” said the teacher, “‘ that, as we prayed, a ship 
from Western Australia came sailing on, never touching a 
port, till it was off the island one Sabbath morning. It hove to, 
and the captain came ashore. He was so interested in the 
Sabbath services and the people that he volunteered to bring 
anything needed on his return voyage from Oregon.” 

The Seventh-day Adventist church in Portland, Oregon, to 
whom the captain reported, more than filled the list of needs 
which Pitcairn had given to the captain. 

Again, with the island still so nearly cut off from com- 
munication, Missionary Adams said they prayed for help to 
build a boat of their own. 

“As we began the work, and found our need of this or that 
that the island could not furnish, we prayed. And as we 
prayed,” he said, “ the ships began to come in again. One ship 
gave us a compass and some iron. Every time we came to 
the end of our resources, we met and prayed, and it seemed 
truly that the Lord sent a ship to bring us what we needed. 
The captains would ransack their ships and pile the odds and 
ends on deck. 

“It took us thirteen months to complete the boat. We had 
not a thing for taking observations at sea. Just then a captain 


ON THE WATERS 225 


from Panama came in and gave us a sextant. This sextant was 
one that the captain treasured, as it had belonged to his father. 
‘I would not give it for anything else,’ he said, ‘ but I will let 
you take it. If I come back, I will bring you another and get 
it back.’ 

* Another captain gave an anchor. After long deliberations 
and scratching his head, deciding whether he could do it or 
not, he said, ‘I will make that a present from the company.’ ” 





Landing Place and Boathouse, Pitcairn Island 


At last the “ Messenger ’”’ was launched, and one day its 
crew headed the little ship for Mangareva, three hundred miles 
distant. 


“That night,’ said Missionary Adams, “a storm broke 
upon us. The islanders said it was the worst storm they had 
ever encountered. Used as they were to battling with the sea, 
they despaired of life; but we got through safely, and in three 
and one-half days we were in sight of Mangareva. 

“ After three days on Mangareva, we put out on the return, 
but on the third day we met strong head winds. For- about 
three weeks we had only head winds, and had to tack and tack. 


15 


6é 


POO MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


Then the wind came with hurricane force, more violent than 
on our outward voyage. For thirty-six hours we ran with the 
hurricane. ‘The seas were terrible. All the expanse of water 
was just one mass of foam. The waves came rushing upon us 
from the rear, mountain high, but they seemed to flatten out 
just before striking us. Never a wave fell upon our boat. We 





A Pitcairn Island Home and Family 


have a Father who controls the waves. It seemed wonderful 
to see these curling masses of water rush up to us, and never 
break over us.” 


That little crew, praying their way over the raging sea, sang 
the sentiment of the “ Travelers’ Hymn,” as they drove before 
the storm: 


“When by the dreadful tempest borne 
High on the dreadful wave, 
They know Thou art not slow to hear, 
Nor impotent to save. 


“The storm is laid, the winds retire, 
Obedient to Thy will; 
The sea, that roars at Thy command, 
At Thy command is still. 


ON THE WATERS 227 


“Tn midst of dangers, fears, and death, 
Thy goodness we'll adore; 
We'll praise Thee for Thy mercies past, 
And humbly ask for more.” 


“But when the force of the hurricane was spent,” said 
Mr. Adams, “ we were five hundred miles from Tahiti, in the 
Society Islands.”” Now what should they do? 

“The question was, Should we go on to Tahiti, or should 
we head for Pitcairn, or should we make for the Austral Islands? 
Praying God to guide us, we cast lots. The lot fell for Tahiti. 
Thereupon immediately the wind turned and blew straight on 
toward Tahiti. Running with this favorable wind, in five days 
we were off the harbor. ‘Then two miles out the wind absolutely 
failed; but the pilot of the harbor saw us becalmed outside. 
Mevenidstormimselt,, trérhaps this is’ the’ Pitcairn’ boat, ~ He 
came out with his launch, and threw us a rope and towed us in. 
We had used up our last supply of meal and our last drinking 
water when the wind fell and left us becalmed within sight of 
the harbor.” 

No one listening to Teacher Adams’ relation of the expe- 
rience could fail to understand, as he said, that of a truth we 
have a Father who is able to control the waves, whose pathway 
is in the storm and upon the great waters. 

The party safely reached Pitcairn Island. Their ship 
“ Messenger ” served them for some years, gathering supplies 
and earning money for missions. Then, when ships were more 
frequently calling at Pitcairn, and the special need for a craft 
of their own had passed, the little ‘ship foundered far out at 
sea, just after a passing steamer had taken off the crew, who 
had been praying for rescue. 


OVER THE OCEAN CURRENTS 


A home missionary worker who believes in sowing the seed 
beside all waters, was on a school outing on the Delaware River. 
She noticed some of the children throwing bottles into the river. 
(They had carried soda water on the trip to drink with the 
lunch. ) 


228 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


“What are you doing?” she asked. 

“We are writing our names and addresses on pieces of 
paper, and putting them in the bottles,” the young people re- 
plied, “and throwing them into the river.” 

“A new thought came to me. I had brought along some 
tracts to distribute if I found an opportunity. I said, ‘1 am 
going to put a tract in my bottle, and send it out for some 
one to read.’ 

“So I put a tract into my bottle, writing upon the margin 
my name and address. With a prayer in my heart, I threw 
the bottle over into the river. That was five years ago. 

“Two weeks ago I received a letter from a sailor of the 
United States Marines. He told me that he was on a man-of- 
war otf the coast of Cuba. He had fished my bottle out of the 
water, and had found the tract which I had set adrift nearly 
five years before. He wrote me that he would like to receive 
more publications. He told me in his letter that | would have 
one star in my crown of rejoicing in the kingdom because of 
sending this tract so full of truth to him across the sea.” 


One sees a kindly Providence preserving the message of 
that bottle, bobbing up and down in the ocean currents for five 
years, to come at last into the hands of a reader whose heart 
was blessed by it. 


*“YOU HAVEN’T PRAYED ”’ 


While attending a missions conference in Australia some 
years ago, I heard Missionary Stewart, of the New Hebrides, 
tell how he had toiled under the burning sun at a dead engine 
in his little mission launch, till he was discouraged. He and 
his island boys were far out at sea. The engine was stalled. 
“T can’t do anything with it,” he said to the boys. 

“But, master, you haven’t prayed about it yet,” they an- 
swered — boys who were not yet fully Christian. 

“T felt the rebuke,” said the missionary. He had a season 
of prayer, and, shall we say strange to tell? the trouble was 
immediately found, and the engine was again driving them on 
to home and safety. 


ON THE WATERS 229 


So roaming the ocean highways in their search for souls, 
these missionaries and their helpers are continually seeing “ the 
works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep.” Ps. 107: 24. 


ON SEAS MOUNTAIN HIGH 


Many a rough sea journey in the South Seas ends happily, 
the island missionaries believe, because there is praying on the 
little boats, buffeted by combing seas, and praying at the little 
mission homes on shore. A picture of the home prayer place 
is given by Secretary H. M. Blunden, of the Australasian mis- 
sions to the Polynesian fields: 


“Our little fleet of vessels travels the tropic seas where tide 
rips are very numerous. On one occasion we struggled two and 
a half hours right in one spot with a most dangerous rip, won- 
dering whether we would ever come through. These mission- 
aries travel for weeks at a time when the seas are mountain high. 

“Let me paint you a picture of a little dot on the bosom of 
the Pacific about one and a half miles around, and picture a lone 
woman among eight hundred cannibal savages. Her good 
husband, starting off to visit other stations, says to her when 
he leaves, ‘ Now, my dear, I will be home on Sunday morning, 
all being well.’ 

“Sunday morning comes, and she is awake early, quickly 
rises, and at the very earliest dawn she begins to scan the 
horizon round the point of land a mile or two from her home, 
and watches throughout the day till night, and with aching heart 
she wonders where he is. 

“She retires that night all alone. But little sleep comes to 
aching brow. Next morning with the earliest dawn she is on 
the lookout again. Another day passes, a week goes by, dear 
friends, and still he doesn’t come. Great waves arise, clouds 
come over, and the storms come up; but she still wonders what 
has become of her loved one. 

“These dear sisters sometimes have to wait a week, ten 
days, two weeks, beyond the time appointed; and then one fine 
day, by God’s grace, the little vessel rounds the point and makes 
its way into the harbor! 

“Tt makes my heart ache for these dear sisters who are 
willing to brave such conditions in order that the love of God 
may be revealed to benighted savages.” 


* 


1a}JeIdiIJUT SB Susy oJUeNbS 
SNVIGNI GHL HLIM ALVGYL V ONINVA 





On Old Indian Trails 


“When thou passest through the waters, I will 
be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall 
not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the 
fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the 
flame kindle upon thee.’ Isaiah 43:2. 


RELYING ON THE PROMISE 

Tris promise of Isaiah 43:2 was tried out by two 
Moravian missionaries following the Indian trails of colonial 
Pennsylvania. 

John Mack and Christian Froelich had been pioneering the 
way for a mission in the Wyoming Valley. The daily texts of 
the Moravian Calendar were a support to their spirits in the 
rough and hazardous journeying over rocks and through for- 
ests. On their way back, says John Mack’s journal: 

“The woods were on fire all around us. . . . After dinner 
we came between two great mountains. . . . Before us there 
was sent such a great flame that we were a little afraid to go 
through it, and we could find no other way to escape it. Brother 
Christian went through first. The flame went quite over his 
head; it looked a little dismal. He got through, but I did not 
know it, because I could not see him for the smoke. I called 
to him; he answered me immediately. I thought I would wait, 
but the fire grew fiercer. He called me again, and prayed me 
to come through, saying our dear Saviour promised, ‘ When 
thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned.’ ” 

Mack plunged safely through, and then they thanked God 
that He had kept them through perils by water and fire. “ When 
we came to Bethlehem,” the journal says, “we found that the 
watchword for that day had been Isaiah 43: 2.” 

A PROVIDENTIAL MEETING IN THE WILD 

Spangenberg, who became a bishop of the Moravian Church, 
and a successor to Zinzendorf in leading the early missionary 
work among the American Indians, had met Conrad Weiser, 

231 


252 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


the Indian agent of the Pennsylvania colonial government. , 
Weiser was a Christian man, and eager to see the Indians 
helped. He urged Spangenberg to do something among the 
Six Nations. 

Spangenberg had told Zinzendorf. One day, in 1742, Zin- 
zendorf had felt a very definite impression that he should visit 
Weiser. Acting on the impelling conviction, he made the jour- 
ney into the present Lancaster County, then three or four days’ 
journey west of Philadelphia. 

Just as he reached Weiser’s home, an embassy of Iroquois 
chiefs came in to see Weiser. The count, through Weiser as 
interpreter, addressed the Indians, and asked permission to 
establish missions among the Six Nations. The chief made 
reply in stately terms, telling how he was impressed that this 
meeting was ordered by Providence: 

“ Brother, you have journeyed a long way from beyond the 
sea, in order to preach to the white people and the Indians. You 
did not know that we were here; we had no knowledge of your 
coming. The Great Spirit has brought us together. Come to 
our people; you shall be welcome. Take this fathom of wam- 
pum; it is a token that our words are true.” 

Shortly afterward, Weiser guided Zinzendorf to the Wy- 
oming Valley, which had never before been entered by the 
white man. The interpreter here left the party to go on with- 
out him to the Shawanese village (now Plymouth), under the 
guidance of Andrew Montour, a half-French Indian. Weiser 
returned to engage in business elsewhere. But he was seized 
with the conviction that Zinzendorf was in danger. Hastening 
back, he arrived just in time to thwart a plan to massacre the 
missionaries. At every turn in the narrative of early Indian 
missions, we see the hand of Providence. 

We today can scarcely realize the missionary urge that the 
sad state of the American Indians supplied to the awakening 
church in those times of over a century ago. In the old mission- 
ary hymns the Indian’s need was often sung. Here are two 
stanzas from an old London book: 


ON OLD INDIAN TRAILS 233 


“When shall th’ untutored Indian tribes, 
A dark, bewildered race, 
Sit down at our Immanuel’s feet, 
And learn and feel His grace? 


“ Haste, sovereign Mercy, and transform 
Their cruelty to love; 
Soften the tiger to the lamb, 
The vulture to a dove.” 


In 1742 Count Zinzendorf, organizer and leader of the 
Moravians, pushed on into northwestern Pennsylvania. Pur- 
dy’s “Legends of the Susquehanna”’ tells of the missionary 
penetration of the wilds: 


“Then over mountains bearded thick with pine, 
Down through the valleys where the streamlets shine, 
With patient footsteps, past morass and glen, 
Came Zinzendorf to seek the souls of men. 
His beating heart, like beating drum, became 
A herald of the cross and Saviour’s name.” 


THE MESSAGE THAT POSSESSED TSCHOOG’S DREAMS 


The first of the Moravian pioneers among the Indians was 
Christian Rauch. Rauch had heard of their need while still in 
Herrnhut, the Moravian headquarters in Saxony. Moved to 
carry the message of Christ to them, he landed in New York 
in 1740. Having found two Mohicans who could speak a bit 
of Dutch, he persuaded them to guide him to their village. 
They were half intoxicated, however, when they agreed to this. 
As they sobered up on the journey, they repented of their bar- 
gain, and slipped away, leaving Rauch in the forest. He pushed 
on, praying for guidance, and found the chief’s village at 
Shekomeko, on the New York and Pennsylvania border. 

In the camp of Chief Tschoog the missionary first told his 
message, and then lay down to rest. Afterward, when Tschoog 
had become a Christian, the chief told how the message pos- 
sessed his dreams, and how the young man’s fearless trust sent 
conviction to his heart. At a Moravian conference in 1745 


Tschoog said: 


234 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


“A preacher once came to instruct us, and began by proving 
to us that there is a God. Then we said, ‘ Why! do you think 
we do not know that? Return to where you came from.’ 
Again a preacher came desiring to teach us. “You must not 
steal,’ he said, ‘nor drink, nor lie.’ We answered him, ‘ You 
fool! Do you think we do not know that? Learn that your- 
self, and teach the people you belong to not to do so. For who 
drinks, or steals, or lies more than your own people?’ And 
we sent him about his business likewise. 

“After some time Rauch came and sat down with me in my 
hut. The substance of what he said to me was this: ‘I come to 
you in the name of the Lord of heaven and earth. He wants 
you to know that He would like to make you happy, and that 
He desires to lift you out of your present misery. For that end 
He became man, and shed His blood for you.’ He went on thus, 
and then lay down on a board in my hut and fell asleep, for he 
was weary with his journey. 

“Then I thought: ‘ What sort of man is this? He lies here 
and sleeps so calmly. I could strike him dead, and throw him 
into the wood,— who would make inquiry about him? But he 
is not uneasy.’ I could not, however, get rid of his words. 
They recurred to me again and again, and even when I slept 
I dreamed of the blood which Christ has shed for us.” 


Some one has put the chief’s story into verse: 


“He told us of a Mighty One, the Lord of earth and sky, 
Who left His glory in the heavens, for men to bleed and die; 
Who loved poor Indian sinners still, and longed to gain their love, 
And be their Saviour here, and in His Father’s house above. 


“ And when his tale was ended, ‘ My friends,’ he gently said, 

‘I am weary with my journey, and would fain lay down my head;’ 
So beside our spears and arrows he laid him down to rest, 
And he slept as sweetly as the babe upon its mother’s breast. 


“Then we looked upon each other, and I whispered, ‘ This is new; 
Yes, we have heard glad tidings, and that sleeper knows them true; 
He knows he has a Friend above, or would he slumber here, 
With men of war around him, and the war whoop in his ear?’ 


“So we told him on the morrow that he need not journey on, 
But stay and tell us further of that loving, dying One; 
And thus we heard of Jesus first, and felt the wondrous power 
Which makes His people willing, in His own accepted hour.” 


ON OLD INDIAN TRAILS 235 


THE YOUNG MOHAWK HUNTER 


9 


In the “ Journal of Jasper Dankaerts,” covering the times 
of 1679 and 1680, there is an account of the experience of a 
young Indian who determined to become a Christian against 
all the opposition of his family. He was a Mohawk. His aunt 
had broken away amidst persecution, and gone among the 
Christians to learn of God, and the youth longed to find God 
also. His uncle, however, who was responsible for the youth, 
taunted him, and declared that this desire of his to learn of the 
Christian’s God would spoil him as a hunter and a man, after 
the Mohawk standard. Young Wouter went out to prove that 
his longing to know God need not spoil his skill as a hunter. 
The old Dutch journal of Dankaerts quotes the boy’s story of 
that first day’s hunt, when the scoffing uncle had gone one way 
into the forest to show how an Indian brave could hunt, while 
the lad had gone another way, hoping God would save him 
from disgrace. Here is the story: 


“““ Now when I was tired out,’ said Wouter, for we heard 
it from himself as well as from his aunt, ‘and had traveled and 
hunted the whole day without finding any game, with the eve- 
ning approaching, grieved that I had shot nothing and troubled 
at the reproach of my uncle, my heart looked up to God; and 
I fell upon my knees and prayed to Him, that although I was 
no Christian [he meant baptized], I loved God, and only longed 
to learn the language in order to be instructed in Christianity, 
and would receive it with my whole heart, that God would be 
pleased to send me a wild animal to shoot, so that the slur which 
my uncle had thrown upon me might be wiped off.’ 

“While thus down on his knees, with his hat hanging upon 
a bough which was bent down, his prayer not finished, there 
comes and stands before him a very young deer, not twenty 
paces off; it comes softly up to him; his gun rests alongside 
of him loaded; he takes aim, shoots, and hits the deer in the 
breast, and the creature drops down before him on its two 
forefeet and there remains. Without going to the deer, he 
thanks God upon his knees that He had heard his prayer and 
had turned back his reproach. ‘O,’ said he, ‘now do I know 
there is a God, who is: in the woods also, and hears, loves, and 
thinks of me there.’ ” 


236 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


The lad took the deer on his back and went to meet the 
uncle, who was angry, having neither found nor seen anything 
all day. Wouter met him crying, “ Look at what God has given 
me upon my prayer.” Dankaerts’ journal continues: 


“The uncle stood and looked, and knew not what to say, 
being ashamed at what he heard and saw, and of himself. 
Wouter said further, ‘I know there has been no wild animal 
round about here, for I have explored the whole place, far 
and near, without being able to discover any; and now in so 
short a time this one presented itself before me, and it is, 
therefore, certain that God placed it there or caused it to come 
there. I have no doubt of it.’”’ 


On another occasion, “ during the last harvest, in the year 
1679,” Wouter was out hunting beavers. He ran out of food 
and was compelled to eat beaver’s flesh, from which he revolted. 
Dankaerts says: 


“ He felt his heart boil [this is his own expression] and fell 
down upon his knees and prayed that God who had heard him 
before might be pleased now again to hear him and give him 
other food, not so much to satisfy him as to show that He was 
God and loved him— a God whom the Indians did not know, 
but for whom he felt he had a greater hunger than his hunger 
for outward food. ... | 

“While in the midst of his prayer, there stood a fine deer 
before him, which he aimed at and felled with one shot. He 
quickly loaded his gun again, and had scarcely done so when 
he saw close to him a young buffalo. He leveled his gun and 
brought it down; but on running up to it, he came to himself, 
his heart was disturbed, and he became anxious and ashamed 
in considering his covetousness, that he had not thanked God for 
the first small animal; so that he could go no further from joy 
and fear. He fell upon his knees before God in great humility, 
shame, and reverence, confessing his fault and want of gratitude, 
praying God to forgive him and thanking Him now for both, 
saying that through his unthankfulness for the first one, he 
was not worthy to have the second and larger one.” 


The young Indian’s earnest seeking led him out of the 
darkness, and he followed his aunt into the Christian way. 


ON OLD INDIAN TRAILS 2a7 


THE INDIAN AND THE GOLD PIECE 


Somewhere in the narrative of early New England days 
is the original of the story of Nauhaught, the Indian deacon, 
member of one of Eliot’s early churches. 





The Red Man’s Home 
It has been told as follows by a New England writer: 


“One cold winter, when the snow covered the fields and 
woods for many months, the game became very scarce. There 
was very little food in Nauhaught’s home, his wife was ill with 
fever, and his little boy was very hungry. One night Nau- 


238 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


haught dreamed that an angel dropped into his hands a gold 
piece. In the morning he went out to search his traps, but 
found nothing. Then he prayed that God would send him the 
angel of his dreams. 

““As he came out of the woods, he saw something shining 
in the sunlight. He picked it up, and there in his hand was a 
purse full of gold coins. ‘My dream is true!’ he shouted in 
his joy. 

‘“* But,’ said a voice, ‘the angel brought one gold piece.’ 

““ My wife is sick and my boy is starving,’ he answered the 
voice, ‘and who will know it? The woods cannot tell it.’ 

“He looked down again. An ugly black snake lay coiled 
at his feet and a black-winged bird sat on a bough beside him. 
“It is the tempter,’ he said. ‘The gold is not mine. I must 
find the owner of the purse. I am a Christian Indian; Nau- 
haught cannot be a thief. Should I do this secret meanness, the 
birds would tell of it, the sun would know it, and the stars would 
watch me at nisht.” Yea; ~ Thou, God seestune: 

“Then Nauhaught stood up very straight, and took the 
purse of gold coins to the fishing hamlet where he lived. He 
went to the door of the little inn and asked, ‘ Has any one lost 
anything today?’ 

““*T have,’ answered a big, broad-shouldered sailor. ‘I have 
lost a purse that my daughter made for me from the silkworm’s 
web. It was filled with golden coins.’ Nauhaught placed the 
silken purse in the stranger’s hand. Then the man said to him, 
‘One of the gold pieces belongs to you. You are an honest man; 
you make me very grateful. I could replace the gold; but | 
love the purse, because I love my little girl.’ 

“He walked quickly home to his sick wife and little boy. 
And as he showed them his big, shining gold piece, he told them 
about his dream and about the big, broad-shouldered sailor, 
and then he said, ‘ I saw an angel where others see a man.’ ” 


This is the story which Whittier’s poem has made ever new. 
Here it is, slightly abbreviated: 


“ Nauhaught, the Indian deacon, who of old 
Dwelt, poor but blameless, where his narrowing Cape 
Stretches its shrunk arm out to all the winds 
And the relentless smiting of the waves, 
Awoke one morning from a pleasant dream 
Of a good angel dropping in his hand 
A fair, broad gold piece, in the name of God. 


ON OLD INDIAN TRAILS 239 


“ He rose and went forth with the early day 
Far inland, where the voices of the waves 
Mellowed and mingled with the whispering leaves, 
As, through the tangle of the low, thick woods, 
He searched his traps. Therein nor beast nor bird 
He found; though meanwhile in the reedy pools 
The otter plashed, and underneath the pines 
The partridge drummed: and as his thoughts went back 
To the sick wife and little child at home, 
What marvel that the poor man felt his faith 
Too weak to bear its burden,— like a rope 
That, strand by strand uncoiling, breaks above 
The hand that grasps it. ‘Even now, O Lord! 
Send me,’ he prayed, ‘the angel of my dream! 
Nauhaught is very poor; he cannot wait.’ 


” 
a 


Even as he spake he heard at his bare feet 

A low, metallic clink, and looking down, 

He saw a dainty purse with disks of gold 
Crowding its silken net. Awhile he held 

The treasure up before his eyes, alone 

With his great need, feeling the wondrous coins 
Slide through his eager fingers, one by one. 

So then the dream was true. The angel brought 
One broad piece only; should he take all these? 
Who would be wiser, in the blind, dumb woods? 
The loser, doubtless rich, would scarcely miss 
This dropped crumb from a table always full. 
Still, while he mused, he seemed to hear the cry 
Of a starved child; the sick face of his wife 
Tempted him. Heart and flesh in fierce revolt 
Urged the wild license of his savage youth 
Against his later scruples. .. . 


“His Christian garb 
Seemed falling from him; with the fear and shame 
Of Adam naked at the cool of day, 
He gazed around. A black snake lay in coil 
On the hot sand, a crow with sidelong eye 
Watched from a dead bough. All his Indian lore 
Of evil blending with a convert’s faith 
In the supernal terrors of the Book, 
He saw the tempfer in the coiling snake 
And ominous, black-winged bird; and all the while 
The low rebuking of the distant waves 
Stole in upon him like the voice of God 
Among the trees of Eden. Girding up 
His soul’s loins with a resolute hand, he thrust 


240 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


The base thought from him: ‘ Nauhaught, be a man! 
Starve, if need be; but while you live, look out 
From honest eyes on all men, unashamed.’. . . 


“Then Nauhaught drew 
Closer his belt of leather, dulling thus 
The pain of hunger, and walked bravely back 
To the brown fishing hamlet by the sea; 
And pausing at the inn door, cheerily asked: 
Who hath lost aught today?’ 


“ 


eS Te said: aevoicern 
Ten golden pieces, in a silken purse, 
My daughter’s handiwork.’ He looked, and lo! 
One stood before him in a coat of frieze, 
And the glazed hat of a seafaring man, 
Shrewd-faced, broad-shouldered, with no trace of wings. 
Marveling, he dropped within the stranger’s hand 
The silken web, and turned to go his way. 
But the man said: ‘A tithe at least is yours; 
Take it in God’s name as an honest man.’ 
And as the deacon’s dusky fingers closed 
Over the golden gift, ‘ Yea, in God’s name 
I take it, with a poor man’s thanks,’ he said. 
So down the street that, like a river of sand, 
Ran, white in sunshine, to the summer sea, 
He sought his home, singing and praising God; 
And when his neighbors in their careless way 
Spoke of the owner of the silken purse,— 
A Wellfleet skipper, known in every port 
That the Cape opens in its sandy wall,— 
He answered, with a wise smile, to himself: 
‘T saw the angel where they see a man.’” 


SAVED FOR FUTURE SERVICE 


While not pertaining directly to mission service, an incident 
in the life of George Washington may be included here with 
no impropriety ; for one cannot read the story of Washington’s 
early days in the Indian wilds without feeling that Providence 
overruled in his life to allow him to fulfil a destiny as founder 
of the new Republic of the West. Certainly he was guided in 
giving counsel and shaping affairs in such a way that from the 
beginning the new country lifted toward all the world the 
blazing torch of civil and religious liberty. 


ON OLD INDIAN TRAILS 241 


Washington himself felt that a divine protection alone 
spared him through the exposures of the French and Indian 
Wars. Ina letter to his brother, quoted by the historian Sparks, 
Washington said of his escape from death at the scene of 
Braddock’s defeat : 

“By the all-powerful dispensations of Providence I have 
been protected beyond all human probability or expectation; 
for I had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot 
under me, yet escaped unhurt, although death was leveling my 
companions on every side of me.” 

A comment on this personal statement by Washington is 
found in the report of an Indian chief who was one of the 
leaders in the forces against the colonials whom Braddock 
commanded so disastrously. 

As Washington and a Dr. Craig were in what was then 
called the Western country, they came across a venerable chief- 
tain living among his people on one of the Ohio rivers. Around 
the council fire the old chief told of an experience on that day 
when he led his forces against Braddock’s men who were stand- 
ing in European formation in the open, their red coats a bright 
mark for the Indian warriors fighting from ambush. The 
chief said: 


“TI am a chief, and ruler over my tribes. My influence ex- 
tends to the waters of the Great Lakes, and to the far blue 
mountains. I have traveled a long and weary path, that I 
might see the young warrior of the great battle. It was on the 
day when the white men’s blood mixed with the streams of our 
forest that I first beheld this chief. I called to my young men 
and said, ‘Mark yon tall and daring warrior? He is not of 
the red-coat tribe. He hath our Indian’s wisdom, and his 
warriors fight as we do. Himself alone is exposed. Quick, 
let your aim be certain, and he dies.’ Our rifles were leveled, 
rifles which, but for him, knew not how to miss. *Twas all in 
vain. A power mightier far than we shielded him from harm.” 


Custis, in his life of Washington, repeats the story as told 
to him by Craig. Washington was the young warrior against 
whom the Indian chief found himself powerless, recognizing 
that he must be shielded from harm by a power divine. 


16 


Under the Promise 


“In My name shall they cast out devils; . . 
they shall take up serpents; and if they drink 
any deadly thing, tt shall not hurt them.” Mark 
LO sa {eel Oe 


THE DEATH POTION HARMLESS 

Tuis remarkable story of the East Indies is told in a 
German book, “ Einzelzuge aus der Arbeit der Rheinischen 
Mission.” 

Missionary Nommensen had gathered about him a small 
group of Christians. One evening a member of the group, 
Nicodemus, came to him, saying that he had heavy guilt upon 
his mind that would give him no rest. And what did he con- 
fess? That today also there was fulfilled to Christ’s servants 
what He had promised to the first disciples: “If they drink 
any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them.” He then related the 
following: 


“*“As you came to Silindong some years ago, and many 
talked about you and your intentions, it came to me that you 
would bring misfortune to our land. I waited a long time to 
see if some one would not make you leave. But it seemed 
always that no one could bring this about. 

““Thereupon I made a resolution to put an end to your life, 
in fact to poison you. I sought through frequent visits to the 
kitchen to find the way to carry out my purpose. One morn- 
ing as I laid my pipe yonder I put poison in your porridge. 
That is my guilt, and now I beg you to forgive me, and pray 
to God for me, that He may cleanse away my sin in the blood 
of Christ.’ 

“Nommensen was deeply touched by this revelation of the 
fulfilment of the Saviour’s promise and the mighty protection 
of the Lord. As he expressed his thanks to God, the penitent 
exclaimed further: ‘ Yes, in this have I myself experienced 
God’s protection over you. As you ate what in others would 
have caused death, I believed in God’s word and became a 
Christian.’ 


242 


UNDER THE PROMISE 243 


“The missionary, feeling how great a debt of gratitude he 
owed to God, went, deeply moved, into his little bedroom, and 
wrote in his daily record book: ‘ Should the Lord once lift the 
veil which hides all the dangers from which He has delivered 
me, what would one such deliverance be?’ ”’ 


DELIVERED BY THE ‘“‘ NAME ”’ 


While the Spiritualists of the West count the year 1848 
as the birth year of modern Spiritualism, the dark lands of 
paganism have known this spiritistic manifestation through the 
ages. In the religious system of the Solomon Islanders, spirit- 
ism is the chief factor. Our missionaries have known what it 
is to wrestle against “wicked spirits in high places” there. 
Converts just turning from the darkness have been often set 
upon by unseen agencies. One day a group of people came 
to Missionary G. F. Jones, exultant and rejoicing. They had 
scarcely begun to receive instruction, but they cried out, “ We 
have learned how to drive away the evil spirits that come into 
our village!” 

“ How do you do it?” asked the missionary. 

“Tt is tepo, tepo [prayer] to Jesus,” they said. “ When 
we called on the name of Jesus, the evil spirits left off dis- 
turbing us.” 

They had learned the power in the Name by their own 
feeling after divine protection. 

Writing of one youth’s deliverance, Mrs. D. Nicholson, 
one of our Australian missionaries, says: 

“Here is a remarkable experience of a young man in the 
Solomon Islands, named Kioto. He had taken the dinghy 
(a small rowing boat used as a tender to a vessel) from the 
launch in order to visit a village, leaving us at anchor on a 
lee shore. The night was calm when he went, and as the 
weather looked favorable, he decided to sleep at the village. 
But toward morning he was awakened by a heavy wind. His 
thoughts immediately flew to the launch, and he decided to 
return. But after he had proceeded some distance on _ his 


journey, he said that lights and sounds from the spirit world 
began to surround him, and, to use his own words, ‘ It caused 


244 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


every hair of my head to leave me, and the hair of my body 
to stand on end.’ He was prevented from rowing. While held 
spellbound in this condition, he thought of prayer, and by pray- 
ing to Jesus obtained deliverance. He said that as soon as he 
began to pray, the manifestations ceased, and his physical power 
returned. 

“This young man had many similar experiences in the days 
before he made a full surrender. He was also beset by more 
temptations than any other young person in school. It is 
significant that this same young man today is having wonderful 
success as a worker.” 


WARNED AGAINST WITCHCRAFT 


Warned by a dream against witchcraft and the witch doctors, 
and repeatedly urged to search for the truth, a woman of the 
South Sea Islands was prepared, with her husband, to accept 
the message of light. It was on Raiatea, of the Society Group. 
Missionary George L. Sterling reported the experience in the 
Australasian Record: 


“Recently, while examining some candidates for baptism, 
I inquired regarding a sister’s former acquaintance with sorcery 
as practised by the natives of these islands, and her willingness 
to give up all such practices. In reply I was told that she had 
had some peculiar visitations, or ‘visions,’ in years gone by, 
that had led native witch doctors to believe that she was in 
touch with the spirit world, and they had advised her to enter 
the tahuas, or cult of native doctors. She had not followed 
their advice, owing to the opposition of her husband, who had 
become disgusted with the pretensions of the witch doctors. 
The husband of this sister related to me the following: 

““Years ago my wife had a “vision” in which she saw a 
man standing before her and saying very plainly and distinctly, 
‘“What are you and your companion doing? Why don’t you 
search for the truth?”’ Some months or years later she recog- 
nized the same person again in another “ vision,” who said this 
time, “ Why are you so long? Why aren’t you searching for 
the truth? Time is short.’ She was not an Adventist at this 
time, though she knew of them. 

““Later on, and after the death of two famous witch 
doctors, she saw a third “ vision,” in which appeared, standing 
before her, the same personage she had seen twice before, and 


UNDER THE PROMISE aie 74) 


the two witch doctors recently deceased. At their feet sat a 
woman who spoke for them, and said, “ These doctors want to 
tell you not to follow their profession. It is a fraud; therefore 
have nothing to do with it.”’ 

“We said to him, ‘We cannot condemn such “ visions ” 
as those. If your wife follows this good instruction, she will 
surely find the kingdom of God.’ ” 


WRESTLING WITH A SERPENT 


For the love of souls and with trust in God, the Moravian 
missionary, Dahne, alone on the Corentyn, in the wilds of 
Guiana, South America, met danger from wild beasts and the 
wild Arawak and Carib Indians, endured hunger, outwore 
fevers, and fought the battle with loneliness year after year. 
His deliverance from a serpent is thus told in his own words, 
repeated from the early Moravian records: 


“One evening, not being well, and going to lie down in my 
hammock, upon entering the door of my hut, I perceived a large 
serpent descending upon me from a shelf near the roof. In the 
scuffle, the creature stung or bit me two or three times on the 
head, and pursuing me very closely, twined itself several times 
round my head and neck. 

“Supposing that this would be the occasion of my departing 
this life, I, for the satisfaction of my brethren, wrote the cause 
of my death with chalk upon the table. ‘A serpent has killed 
me,’ lest they should charge the Indians with the deed. But on 
a sudden that promise of our Saviour to His disciples was im- 
pressed upon my mind, ‘ They shall take up serpents; and .. . 
it shall not harm them,’ and seizing the creature with great force, 
I tore it loose and flung it out of the hut. I then lay down to 
rest in the peace of God.” 


THE POISON PLOT FRUSTRATED 


In this case the missionaries were not delivered from the 
effects of poison, it is true, but from the eating of it. 

The worst enemies of the mission work on Tutuila, in the 
South Pacific, were the renegade foreigners living there. When 
Mr. A. W. Murray, of the London Missionary Society, settled 
at Pango Pango, these degenerates openly threatened the 


246 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


bd 


mission. In his “Forty Years in Polynesia,’ 
says: 

“We had-no human means of protection or defense. Our 
home was open, and we and all we had were entirely at their 
mercy. Night after night we used to lie down, feeling that 
there was nothing restraining them from putting us all out of 
the way but the dread of the natives and the hand of God. 

‘““ Amidst all our perils, however, we were safe; an unseen 
eye was upon us, and an unseen hand was our defense. The 
designs and attempts of our enemies against us were baffled, 
and they were virtually taken in their own snare. 

“We were ignorant of it at the time, but we found out 
afterward that our fears had been but too well founded. A 
plot was formed, and well-nigh carried into execution, to cut 
us all off by poison soon after our settlement on the island. 

“The opportunity was to be embraced when the teakettle 
was on the fire. Cooking, boiling water, etc., are done in open 
sheds on the islands. The time fixed for carrying the plan into 
effect was service afternoon. The lad who attended to the 
boiling of the water was accustomed to fill the kettle and put 
it upon the fire before going to the serviee. Hence there was 
afforded just the opportunity which our enemies sought. 

“We had all gone to the service, and there was no human 
eye to watch their movements. The appointed afternoon hap- 
pened to be windy, and while the man who had undertaken to 
carry the plot into effect was in the act of doing the deed, an- 
other, who had been smitten with remorse, struck his arm, and 
scattered the poison; they had no means of obtaining more, and 
so the attempt failed.” 


Years later the missionary learned that this failure of the 
plot was the means of scattering the hostile party. He con- 
cludes: 


“ Looking at the thing apart from man, we mark with devout 
gratitude the hand of God in the whole affair. He had work 
for us to do, and He kept us in safety while destruction hovered 
over us; and by means of the attempt to cut us off, He wrought 
for us a great and most unexpected deliverance. It led to the 
breaking up and scattering of the party. They no doubt felt 
that they had laid themselves open to be dealt with as murder- 
ers. A man-of-war might drop into the harbor any day, and 
they could no longer trust one another.” 


Mr. Murray 


UNDER THE PROMISE 247 


VICTORY OVER POISONOUS FUMES 


When the family of Archibald Glover, with Miss Gates, an 
associate, were fleeing from Shansi during the Boxer troubles 
of 1900, they were imprisoned at Lanchen Cheo. Their captors 
laid a poison plot. Fearing to end the lives of the missionaries 
by direct attack, the guards and officials conceived the idea of 





R. F. Cottrell The New and the Old 
A Chinese colporteur with a group of discarded idols 


putting them to sleep by burning some stupefying drugs in 
their prison room, and then, when all were unconscious, putting 
them to death. Guards were in the prison room, but as they 
were used to opium fumes, they were expected to keep awake, 
and to give the word when all the foreigners became uncon- 
scious. The missionary group united in audible prayer in the 
Chinese tongue. Mr. Glover says in “A Thousand Miles of 
Miracle in China: ”’ 


“There was dead silence as the prayer went up. By the 
dull light of an opium lamp, we could discern the forms of the 


248 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


five men lying or sitting in different postures about the room; 
but it was not sufficient to reveal the expression of their faces. 
Presently, however, the silence was broken, and out of the 
semidarkness came the words: 

“*They have been praying to their God to deliver them. 
Ai-ia! deliver them indeed! too late for that now. What 1s 
the use of praying when everything is fixed?’ 

“It must have been shortly after midnight, as nearly as we 
could judge, when a stealthy knock was heard at the door, and 





F. A. Allum 


Gathering the Crude Opium From the Plant 


a voice demanding admittance. The bolt was thrust from the 
lock, the bar drawn, and the form of the Tseh-cheo Lao-ie 
showed big in the doorway. 

“*Up, up!’ he said, ‘up and be doing! Now’s your time. 
These foreign devils are under your hand and in your power, 
and you must put them to death. Do it in any way you choose; 
but do it you must, and do it now. Kill them at once, and don’t 
be afraid. Poison them with opium, if you will; and to prevent 
trouble, stupefy them first by burning such and such a narcotic. 
Do as I counsel you, and never fear.’ 

“And with that he passed out into the darkness. The burden 
of this terrible communication was interpreted to me by Miss 
Gates in the whispered words: 


UNDER TIIE PROMISE 249 


““The end has come. The Lao-ie has instructed them to 
kill us now.’ 

“Without giving the jailers the slightest intimation that we 
had understood what had passed, we made our prayer to our 
God, and set a watch against them. Meantime, the door was 
once more secured, and a short consultation held, after which 
the men lay down as before. In a little while they were, to 
all appearance, asleep. 

“Time went on, and we saw no indication that foul play 
was intended. Miss Gates was reclining in a half-sitting pos- 
ture toward the back of the k’ang veiled in shadow, which the 
yellow glimmer of the opium lamp failed to penetrate; while 
my wife and children were covered by my kneeling form as 
I swept the fan above them. 

“At length one of the men got up and busied himself with 
preparing some stuff in a vessel. When ready, he put a light 
to it, and returned to his place. 

“Why did my arm move so heavily? and whence this over- 
powering sense of weariness? I changed my position, and 
stood up on the k’ang, to rouse myself; for at all costs the fan 
must be kept going in such a stifling atmosphere. Again I 
knelt, and then again stood up. It was a hard fight, but the 
battle, I felt, was against me. An unconquerable drowsiness 
held my eyes; I swayed to and fro; and a stupor from which 
I strove in vain to shake myself free, clouded my faculties. 
The movement of the arm as I fanned became indolently me- 
chanical; then spasmodic; and then—the fan dropped to the 
k’ang, and I helplessly after it. It was no use. Sleep I must, 
whether they killed us or not. And dazed to ‘don’t care’ pitch, 
I passed into unconsciousness. 

“The noxious fumes of the burning drug were doing their 
work entirely to the satisfaction of the watching jailer. The 
utter stillness that pervaded the k’ang proved it to a demon- 
stration; and leaving his resting board, he brought the lamp 
across to scrutinize his victirns before giving the coup de grace. 
What was his amazement to find, as he held the light to Miss 
Gates’ face, that she was wide awake, and that upon one of 
the ‘kuei tsi’ at least the narcotic had had no power! A quick 
movement, designed to let him know that she was fully alive 
to all that was going on, so took him aback that he could only 
blurt out a disconcerted ‘Ai-ia! not asleep yet?’ and withdrew 
to his plank and his pipe. In the strength of God and the 


250) MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


patience of Christ, our dear sister continued the lonely vigil of 
self-denying love and unceasing prayer, to which undoubtedly 
we owed the preservation of our lives.” 

Seeing that the poison drug fumes had no power over one 
of the foreigners, the plotters of death became afraid. In the 
morning the keepers de- 
cided: 1G’ Sreportanto mare 
officials: ‘“‘ These people 
have been praying to 
Shang-ti lIe-ho-hua _ [Je- 
hovah God], and we could 
do nothing against their 
prayers.” 

The frustration of the 
poison plot averted the 
death stroke, and soon a 
way of deliverance came 
and the missionary party 
pushed on toward Hankow 
and safety. 


DELIVERED FROM DEMONS 


Reporting from Korea, 
Missionary C. L. Butter- 
field described a case of 
deliverance from _ spirit 
possession, so closely par- 
allel with one of the New 





Kora, a Korean Girl phy ie 
Who attends a Seventh-day Adventist Testament incidents that 


mission school it may well be recited here. 


A man whose wife was thus afflicted was advised by his 
friends to go to the Christians for help. He brought the 
poor woman to a Korean Seventh-day Adventist church, ten 
miles from his home, and the believers prayed for the woman’s 
deliverance. 


UNDER THE PROMISE 251 


“When they read the Bible in her presence, she made all 
possible outcry against the Book. Though she had known noth- 
ing of the Bible before, she now saw in it an enemy. She would 
snatch at it, to throw it away, saying she was afraid of it. No 
other book held in her presence so affected her. 

“Erelong, as these simple believers prayed to God for her, 
a change began to take place. She claimed to be possessed with 
five demons. When prayer was offered that they be cast out, 
they at last replied, ‘ Where will you send us?’ 

“The Korean leader replied, “When Jesus was upon earth, 
He sent the evil spirits into the swine. You can go there if you 
wish.’ 

“But that was not what they wanted. They asked to be 
allowed to enter into some other person, or to return to this 
same woman after a time. The Christians stoutly refused to 
grant that, and continued to read the promises of the Word of 
God and plead with God that the evil spirits might be driven out. 

“At last the evil spirits could resist no longer. ‘ We will 
leave in three days,’ they said, speaking through the medium 
of the poor victim; ‘and we will go to a certain small creek in 
the mountains.’ Still the Christians held on by faith in prayer 
for the woman’s deliverance. 

“On the third day the woman was taken with violent crying 
and contortions. She rolled and tossed about on the ground 
for some time. Then, as the struggles and cries ceased, she 
sat up calm and in her right mind. The evil spirits had indeed 
left her. From that time she was faithful in serving God, to 
whom she gave her heart, thanking and praising Him for he 
wonderful deliverance from the power of Satan.” 


WRESTLING WITH EVIL SPIRITS 

Every missionary of any experience in China knows that 
devil possession is a very real and terrible thing in that land 
of idols and spirit worship. Here is a story of deliverance 
told by Superintendent W. C. Hankins, of the South Fukien 
Mission: 

“ Among those who attended the meeting was a woman who 
had been possessed with a devil for a long time. She had been 
a gambler, and one night went to the temple and slept before the 


idols, hoping that they would give her a dream of some lucky 
number in the lottery. When she returned home, she was pos- 


252 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


sessed with a devil. This devil would tell her not to go out to 
work, not to eat, and many other things. 

“It was soon known that she was possessed of an evil spirit, 
and her husband sold all his property and used the proceeds in 
an effort to have her cured. First he inquired of the idols, and 
paid the priests large sums to exorcise the devil, but this was 
of no avail. Finally he went to the pastors of one of the 
missions in the city, and inquired if they could help his wife, 
but they said that they had several in their own church who were 
thus possessed, and that they could do nothing for her. 

“He was starting for home, thoroughly discouraged, when 
he met a man who asked him why he did not apply to the 
preacher at the Sabbath mission. ‘Those people have great 
power with God,’ said the man, ‘and it may be that they can 
help you.’ So as a last resort he came and requested that our 
worker visit them. Sabbath afternoon the preacher and several 
of the more zealous of the brethren and sisters went to the 
man’s house. 

“*Can you do anything for my wife?’ asked the man. 

“* No,’ answered the worker, ‘God will not hear our 
prayers.’ 

“*Why not?’ was the startled inquiry. 

“* Because you have all these idols and ancestral tablets 
standing here. These things belong to the devil, and as long 
as they are here, the evil spirits will be sure to come back, 
even if driven out. You must first burn these things if you 
expect your wife to be healed.’ 

“By that time there was a crowd of villagers standing 
around, and they raised a vigorous protest against the man’s 
burning his idols, telling him not to let the exponent of the 
foreign religion deceive him. But our worker was firm that the 
idols must be burned before he would pray, and the man 
finally took them out and burned them, while the crowd still 
protested that the woman was incurable and that he was being 
deceived. 

“When the idols had been destroyed, the little band of 
believers knelt around the woman and prayed for her, weeping 
and confessing their own sins as well as those of the woman. 
The woman herself all the time called out in a loud voice to 
the idols. When they sang a hymn, she chanted an incantation 
to the idols, trying, apparently, to drown their voices with her 
own. That day the devil was not driven out, but they returned 


UNDER THE PROMISE 253 


the next day, and prayed and sang, while the woman again 
invoked the evil spirits, but in a much lower voice. The next 
day they repeated their prayers for her, and this time the devil 
departed, and the woman was once more in her right mind. 

“The man had promised that he would keep the Sabbath 
if his wife was healed, so they both became regular attendants 
at the Sabbath services; but one day it was very hot, and the 
man suggested that they stay at home. His wife protested that 
they had better go, but he said it would do no harm to stay away 
for one time, and so they stayed. 

“That very day the evil spirit returned, and the woman was 
as bad as before. In haste he called for the brethren to come 
and pray. - Again the evil spirit was driven out, and told to 
stay away. 

“Again all things went well until they grew careless and 
neglected one Friday to prepare the food for the Sabbath. 
Having no food in the house, they went out and bought some, 
and again the evil spirit returned and took possession of its 
former abode. As long as they obeyed God they were safe, but 
transgression was immediately followed by devil possession. 
Once more the devil was driven forth by prayer, and from that 
time to this he has stayed away.” 


FROM SERPENT BITE 


Recounting observations among the missions in East Africa, 
President L. H. Christian, of the European Division, wrote: 


“Our missionaries have much faith in prayer, and many 
times they have placed the power of God against the powers 
of the medicine man. At one station a prominent woman among 
the natives was bitten by a puff adder, which is very poisonous. 
They did not let the missionaries know of this, as her husband 
wanted to call the medicine man. She was bitten a little below 
the knee. The medicine man ran his needles or pins into the 
leg many times. The leg swelled up, and she grew rapidly 
worse, and the man declared that she must die. 

““Some eighteen hours after she was bitten, they hurried 
to the mission for help. There was nothing to do but pray. 
The woman was beyond human succor, but the missionary said 
that if all the people in the home, most of whom were pagans, 
would join, he would pray for her. It looked hopeless. They 
all knelt down and prayed. The swelling began to decrease, 
and in a very short time she was well. 


254 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


“The natives have a very simple faith in God, which often 
puts even the missionaries to shame.” 


A DEMONIAC SET FREE 


An Australian missionary, Miss Bessie Dowell, returned 
from China, reported in the Australasian Record the following 
experience in one of our missions, she herself being acquainted 
with the circumstances: 


“A company of believers, consisting of a Chinese evangelist 
and his wife, a Bible woman, and several members of the young 
people’s society, went into the country to hold a gospel meeting. 
While the service was in progress in a public thoroughfare, the 
workers were asked, ‘Can your God heal a demoniac?’ The 
inquirers were assured that the true God has power to cast out 
demons. They then led forth a wild-looking man, bound with 
chains about the wrists and ankles. This man, who had been 
demon-possessed for many years, was a terror to the community 
around him. He had tried in various ways to destroy his own 
life and others’ lives. 

“As soon as he came into the presence of our workers, 
he cried out, ‘Can you heal me?’ 

“They said, ‘ If you believe in Jesus, you can be healed.’ 

“They then told him how Jesus, when He was on earth, had 
healed the sick and cast out demons. 

“*What must I do?’ he asked. 

“*You must believe in Jesus, worship Him, and pray to 
Him.’ 

“* How do you do it?’ he then questioned. 

“In reply to this, the workers taught him a short prayer 
consisting of two or three sentences. The poor sufferer then 
knelt down, and while he repeated this prayer, those present 
prayed for him. 

“The man was immediately healed. Some of those who 
prayed for him visited him three days later, and he came out 
to greet them ‘ clothed, and in his right mind.’ His countenance 
was changed. The chains were gone. 

“This wonderful miracle of healing stirred up a great 
interest among the people of the little village where he dwells.” 


Covered and Hidden 


“ Hide me under the shadow of Thy wings.” 


Psalms 17:8. . 


HIDDEN FROM THEIR EYES 


Tue early settlers in South Africa had their border war- 
fare. In the forties and early “fifties the Kafirs were up along 





Ordained Ministers of South Africa 


the borders of the eastern 
province. A missionary, 
George Brown, was mak- 
ing his way through the 
disturbed area to safety. 
He was seen by a hostile 
band, and a “Goliath of 
his race” laid hold of him 
by the arm. Brown says: 


““ He made me spin out 
of the path as if I had been 
a child. As he grasped 
me firmly with his left 
hand, he stamped with his 
foot upon the ground, and 
in his right hand grasped 
his assagai, which in sav- 
age frenzy he raised over 
me as I was falling back- 
ward, and gave the hor- 
rid weapon the peculiar 
twirl with which they 
plunge it into their victim! 

“What arrested the 
descent of that weapon? 


He only, who covered me under the Almighty’s arms, knows! 
Yet when I think of it, my heart beats quick, and a perspiration 
breaks out all over me. Of a truth the Lord was to me ‘a God 


at hand’ that day.” 


255 


256 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


Then the mob became divided, some for killing, some for 
waiting. In the confusion of strife among themselves, Brown 
got away. Exhausted with his journeying, he and his Kafir 
guide sat down on a rock by the river Keiskamma. War 
parties were passing. His story goes on: 


“There I sat upon that large block of stone, exposed to 
every eye; the path traversed by those bands of excited men 





Thekerani Camp-Meeting, Nyasaland, Africa 


passed within less than twenty yards of me; there was not an 
intervening bush or branch to hide me from them, my whole 
appearance and color so very distinguishable from that of any 
native; and yet group after group passed by without ever a 
soul turning out of his way to ask who I was! 

“Surely that Jehovah to whom Elisha prayed, ‘ Smite this 
people, I pray thee, with blindness,’ was not far from me that 
day! If ever any creature of His hand was covered with His 
shield — hid in His pavilion —I was!” 

Now they got out of the Kafir area. Nearing Gwali, where 
there was safety, Totaue, the Kafir guide, told him twenty 
English had been killed while he was fleeing. Brown concludes 
his narrative of escape: 


COVERED AND HIDDEN Os 


“Totaue looked me in the face, and said, ‘ Myabonana 
kaloku, ibingu Tixo yedwa numhla?’ (Do you now see that 
it was God only this day?) Most heartily do I say, Yes, it 
was God only for me that day.” 


‘““COULD NOT FIND ME”’ 

An Armenian Christian tells of protection in helplessness 
that rendered fierce men powerless to carry out evil purposes. 
The young woman, one of our members, had found refuge with 
others in a room offered by a poor Turkish family. It was 
during the war. Her letter recounts: 


“The room we occupied was no better than a stable, yet we 
thanked God for this kindness and for shelter. A few days 
after our arrival, we were one night attacked by a party of 
Turks. They meant to carry me away. My mother-in-law 
tried to defend me by quickly blowing out the lamp. She was 
badly beaten by the gendarmes. Meanwhile I had crept into 
a corner, and was hiding beneath a heap of bedding. Notwith- 
standing the room was small and they were fierce, armed men, 
they seemed held back, and could not find me in the darkness. 
We felt that God did it. So again we were miraculously de- 
livered.” 

FELT THAT HIS EYES WERE HELD 

A man in Spain had become angered against a foreign 
Protestant missionary and his two Spanish helpers. He de- 
termined to take their lives. The missionary, our late Evan- 


gelist Frank Bond, told how the intent was frustrated: 


“We were not aware of his feelings or his purpose. The 
leader of our colporteurs and I were about to leave the city by 
train. We were accompanied to the railway station by the 
evangelist. We got into the train and bade the evangelist 
good-by. Just as the train was moving away, I looked out the 
window and saw the man, of whose anger I have spoken, stand- 
ing near the train. I said good-by to him. I noticed at the time 
a furious and intent look in the man’s eyes; but the train was 
moving, and we passed from sight. 

“Shortly after the train moved out, the man met our evan- 
gelist, who remained behind. As they talked, the man told him 
that he had come to the station with the determined purpose of 
taking all our lives. He was armed and fully prepared; but he 


17 


258 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


said, ‘I did not see them,’ though he was watching all the time. 
As the three of us had come together to the train, it was im- 
possible for him to understand how he, standing by the side of 
the very car we had entered, could have missed seeing us. He 
felt that God had intervened, and this conviction cooled the 
anger of his mind. 

“Later I met the man and had conversation with him. He 
told me again of his former feelings and of his purpose. He 
could not imagine how it was he had not seen us. He himself 
believed the Lord had mercifully hindered and restrained him, 
and he had thoroughly repented of his anger against us. 

“Considering the circumstances, we could not but be con- 
vinced that God had miraculously intervened to deliver us from 
his hand. We could have no doubt of it.” 


WERE THE SOLDIER’S EYES HELD? 


Orders had gone out in the city of Damascus, at one stage 
of the war, that Armenian Christians were to leave. Evangelist 
B., an Adventist worker, who with his wife had found refuge 
there from persecution, says: 

“Of course, according to the orders, we also were required 
to move on. From time to time officers were coming to the 
houses along our street, putting down the names and ordering 
the Armenians away. It was winter; snow was on the ground. ° 

“At least twenty-five times these searching parties came to 
our street. We often watched them from our house, but not 
even once in all those visits did they come to us or to our house. 
They were searching on both sides of us, but somehow they 
never came to us. It seemed to us that it was a miracle. In 
this condition we lived on two years in that place.”’ 

In telling this story at a general meeting in Constantinople, 
one of the visitors present asked Evangelist B. how he accounted 
for the fact that with all these many visits and with the author- 
ities knowing that he was there, the searchers never got to his 
place, but searched to the right and to the left. 

“Well,” replied the evangelist, “you remember how the 
Lord held the eyes of the men of Syria in the time of Elisha, 
so that they could not see; that is the only way I can account 
for the fact that the searchers did not find us in Damascus.” 


COVERED AND HIDDEN 259 


THE ERROR IN THE REGISTER 


Not alone in meeting hostile attacks in heathen lands, do 
we see an overruling Providence changing the purposes of men. 
Here is the story of God’s care for a medical student in a French 
university, beset at many a point with difficulty over require- 
ments that were in conflict with his keeping of God’s Sabbath. 
He saw things changed in answer to prayer; and these expe- 





Press Illustrating Service 


A Panorama of Damascus 


riences of his student days are rich in results in his work today, 
as Dr. J. Nussbaum combines his medical practice in France 
with an earnest and fruitful work of public evangelism that is 
winning many souls to Christ in that difficult field. 

Years ago, while still a student, Dr. Nussbaum related to 
me in France his experience of God’s intervening mercies. Of 
two crises only will I tell—including the one of the error 
hidden so providentially— transcribing his narrative from my 
notes as follows: 

During his course in Montpellier, an examination came so 
that the oral part was on the Sabbath. The dean said it could 
not be otherwise; said they would make it unusually short, and 
that, if need be, our brother could have a private room, so no 


260 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


one should know he was taking an examination on that day. 
But it was explained to him that no arrangement could make 
it right to break the Sabbath. 

That Sabbath the father and son prayed earnestly that God’s 
will might be done; for it seemed the end of the course had 
come. On the next Thursday, however, our brother was called 
to the faculty room, and found several university professors 
there, as the dean explained, to give him his examination. Such 
a thing had never before been known, some said; but our 
brother thanked God for His gracious intervention. 

Later on, in Toulouse, where the course was continued, his 
class was required to report every morning at a hospital clinic. 
No exemption for the Sabbath could be secured. Our brother 
was faithfully at his post every day — on the Sabbath with the 
believers worshiping God, on the other days at the clinic. 
Again it seemed the way was closed, for three absent marks 
during the period meant failure to pass. At the end of the 
time, however, Dr. Nussbaum found that by some unaccount- 
able error his name had been omitted from the list, so that he 
had no record marked against him. No one had noticed the 
omission the whole year through. It was as if the registrar’s 
eyes had been held. And as the error was on the part of the 
authorities, his attendance was credited at full value. Then 
came a competitive five days’ examination,— none of which 
fell upon the Sabbath,— in which our brother was successful, 
gaining a position in which thereafter no attendance on the 
Sabbath was required. 

It was a simple story, but it had meant at each crisis the 
laying down at the Lord’s feet of the whole life’s purpose; for 
he had determined, to begin with, that he could never allow any 
pressure to lead him to yield the slightest in giving obedience 
to God. And it is this uncompromising determination to stand 
by God and by His truth, come what may, that gives the Lord 
His opportunity to open ways where there are no ways. 


Useless Weapons 


“No weapon that is formed against thee shall 
prosper.’ Isaiah 54:17. 


** ALL THE POWER WENT FROM ME ”’ 


THAT is what an Arab brigand told Archibald Forder, 
in the land of Moab. Of missionary perils and the dangers 
faced by the traveler and explorer, Forder says in his “‘ Ventures 
Among the Arabs:” 


“The life of a pioneer, whether missionary or otherwise, 
must of necessity be one full of danger, trial, and fatigue. 
The difference between the two classes is this, that the ex- 
plorer, scientist, or hunter generally goes relying on his fire- 
arms or foregained knowledge of the people or land, to carry 
him through, while the missionary should, if he does not, rely 
solely on God for protection and guidance under all circum- 
stances. A man in possession of firearms will be sorely tempted 
to put his trust in them when danger comes, and so weaken 
his faith in God; and to spill blood among the Arabs would 
mean lifelong enmity.” 

The missionary then tells of an experience that, he says, 
taught him that “there is a God that can and will deliver.” 
He had frustrated a young brigand’s attempts to steal from him 
and to extort money from him. The young man had vowed 
before others that he would take the missionary’s life the first 
time he met him out alone. One day Mr. Forder was abroad, 
riding over the plain, when the brigand rode down upon him. 
The missionary says: 

“He was armed with his long spear, and as he rode up to 
me, pulled from his side a revolver and leveled it at me, laugh- 
ing and saying, ‘God has given me my opportunity; now I will 
kill you and throw your body into a pit, and no one will know 
where you are or what has become of you.’ 

iad replied, ‘Tf no one else knows, God will, and He will 
punish you.’ 

261, 


262 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


“At once he dropped the arm holding the deadly weapon 
and said, 

““T never met a man like you; had you been one of our 
people, you would even now be dead. Why are you not afraid?’ 

‘““T trust in God to protect me from evil,’ I replied, ‘and 
that is why you could do nothing.’ 

‘“““ No,’ he said, ‘when you said, “ God will know,” all the 
power went from me.’ 

‘He then asked me where I was going, and on being told, 
said he would return with me and see that no harm came to me.” 

The enemy had been turned into a friend and protector. 


THE INDIAN CHIEF’S GUN 

A young Indian of the Port Simpson region of the North- 
west, where the gospel light was spreading, felt called to go 
among a tribe living in rather primitive conditions, and known 
for their superstitious violence against Christian teaching. They 
were dominated by their medicine men. 

The Indian made his way to their country, a hundred-mile 
journey. In a series of articles on “ Gospel Work for the 
Indians of the Northwest,” in the Youth’s Instructor, Elizabeth 
J. Roberts some years ago told of the young Indian’s reception: 


“ Seeking out the chief, the medicine man demanded that the 
strange Indian’s teaching be stopped at once, and insisted that 
the best way to do this was to kill him. The chief, having a 
superstitious fear of the medicine man’s power, went to his tent, 
secured his loaded Winchester rifle, walked to within about 
sixty feet of where Henry Pierce stood preaching, and took 
careful aim at him. 

“ Henry, in telling about it tear said he fully expected 
to fall dead, but determined not to pause in giving his message 
of truth. The chief pulled the trigger, but the rifle missed fire. 

“ Henry, without pause or a sign of fear, continued his 
earnest talk. Quickly throwing in another shell, the chief a 
second time took aim and pressed the trigger, but again there 
was the same strange result of a misfire. 

‘By this time every eye was turned toward the chief, who 
was plainly nervous and worried. With desperate haste he 
threw a third shell into the firing chamber of his rifle, took 
careful aim, and pulled the trigger; but, as before, there was 
no report from the weapon. With a look of terror on his face, 


USELESS WEAPONS 263 


he dropped the rifle from his shaking hands, and fled to the 
shelter of his shack. 

“The Indians had been looking on in surprised bewilder- 
ment, first at their chief, and then at Henry, standing straight 
and tall at the foot of the great tree, and talking quietly and 
earnestly as if nothing unusual were taking place. As soon as 
he had finished speaking, the crowd of Indians pressed in around 
him, and in many ways showed their appreciation and wonder 
over what they had seen and heard. 

“Presently the chief, venturing from his hut, came to the 
edge of the crowd. Henry saw him, and stepping forward, ex- 
tended his hand, and said, ‘ Chief, why did you try to kill me?’ 

“The chief, taking the extended hand, replied that the 
medicine man had made him do it. 

“Why did you drop your gun and run?’ was Henry’s 
next question. 

“With an uneasy look over his shoulder, as if fearing an 
unseen Presence, the chief replied, ‘ Long time I have that gun. 
I go into mountain, I see bear, I raise gun, and— bang! One 
shot kill ’im every time. I try three times to kill you, and all 
I hear, snap, snap, snap.’ 

“As a result of this incident, the young preacher’s fame as 
one bearing a charmed life went far and wide among the Indians, 
and he was welcomed and listened to with respect. But Henry 
knew that this remarkable experience was only another fulfil- 
ment of that precious promise in Psalms 34:7, ‘The angel of 
the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and de- 
livereth them.’ ” 

A WAR PARTY DISMAYED 


The New Hebrides Islands, in the South Seas, have been 
the scene of many a special providence. 

John G. Paton tells how, after the gospel had begun its work 
on the coast of Aniwa, a Christian chief led a party of his 
tribesmen into the interior to tell the good news. Met by the 
inland chief with a war party, the Christian chief called out: 

““We come to you without weapons of war! We come 
only to tell you about Jesus. We believe that He will protect 
us today.’ 

“ As they steadily pressed forward toward the village, spears 


began to be thrown at them. Some they evaded, being all ex- 
cept one most dexterous warriors; and others they literally re- 


264 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


ceived with their bare hands, striking them and turning them 
aside in an incredible manner. ‘The heathen, apparently thun- 
der-struck at these men thus approaching them without weapons 
of war, and not even flinging back their own spears which they 
had turned aside, desisted from mere surprise, after having 
thrown what the old chief called ‘a shower of spears.’ Our 
Christian chief called out: 

““Jehovah thus protects us. He has given us all your 
spears! Once we would have thrown them back at you and 





Tried Native Workers of the New Hebrides 


killed you. But now we come, not to fight, but to tell you about 
jesus. He has changed our dark hearts. He asks you now to 
lay down all these your other weapons of war, and to hear what 
we can tell you about the love of God, our great Father, the 
only living God.’ 

“The heathen were perfectly overawed. They manifestly 
looked upon these Christians as protected by some Invisible 
One! They listened for the first time to the story of the gospel 
and of the cross. We lived to see that chief and all his tribe 
sitting in the school of Christ.” 


THE GUN THAT FAILED ONCE 
In 1922 bandits had taken captive Messrs. Lundeen and 
Ledyard of Honan, missionaries of two societies. Mr. Ledyard 
tells of a gun that failed when pointed at him, but which proved 


USELESS WEAPONS 265 


a deadly weapon the next moment, when otherwise aimed. His 
story is told in Anton Lundeen’s “In the Grip of the Bandits.” 
His deliverance, he says, came about as he was separated from 
the larger party. His mule was exhausted, and could not keep 
up. A lone bandit was set to guard him. They had fallen far 
behind. Night came, it was cold, and the guard led him into 
a hut to get warm. Mr. Ledyard says: 


“Tt was indeed by the Lord’s guidance that we did so, for 
had we gone on, we would have passed an ambush of seven 
armed men hiding behind a small temple a few yards away, 
waiting to shoot us down, so there would have been little 
hope for me. 

“Barely had we entered the hut and sat down when a 
voung fellow came in and whispered something to my guard. 
who instantly rose and went out, and I followed. When he got 
outside the door, he was immediately seized from behind and 
held till the armed men came up and disarmed him. 

“ Seeing these wild-looking men, all armed and terribly en- 
raged, I attempted to run, but was stopped by a rifle pointed 
at my head. The trigger was pulled, but thanks be to the Lord. 
the cartridge was a misfit and failed to go off. Some one said. 
“Don’t shoot! He is a missionary.’ Then they turned their 
attention to the guard. A moment later the man who tried to 
fire at me shot my guard.” 


In the confusion Mr. Ledyard got away, swam a moat, but 
then fell into the hands of a village mob that set about pulling 
and striking him while discussing what to do with him. 

“A cry went up, ‘ The brigands are returning, the brigands 
are returning!’ (Really it was only the local militia returning 
from chasing those two bandits.) Immediately the temple was 
emptied. Every man fled for his life.” 

The temple keeper hid the missionary until a Christian 
Chinese, hearing a foreigner was in trouble, came and rescued 
him, assuring the villagers the missionary was no party to 
the bandit raid. 

THE BAFFLED SAMOANS 

In the early mission days in the Samoan Islands, the heathen 

planned an attack that failed. In his “ Nineteen Years in 


266 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


Polynesia,’ George Turner, of the London Missionary Society, 
tells the story as follows: 
“The heathen party forbade the beating of the native 


wooden drum, the common substitute for a church bell. They 
said it made the gods angry. 





A Typical Scene in the Samean Islands 


“The Christian party refused; they knew what the issue 
would be if they yielded. They still beat the drum as usual, 
to call the people to worship. 

“One night the heathen party came, stole the drum from 
the side of the teachers’ house, and threw it away in the bush. 
The Christian party quietly sought for it, and brought it back. 
This was repeated. 

“Then the heathen party declared war. The day came; 
the Christian party armed too, and were all engaged in united 
prayer when the shout for battle burst upon them. They started 
to their feet, and were presently face to face with their painted 
savage enemies. 


USELESS WEAPONS 267 


“Guns were presented, triggers drawn, the powder flashed 
in the pan, but not a gun would go off. They raised their clubs, 
but not a man had courage to rush and strike a blow. Spears 
were poised, but not one was thrown. 

“It was the same with the guns of the Christian party; they 
would not go off, and not a man struck a blow or threw a spear. 
The people felt confounded, wished to fight and could not. 

“The teachers were at hand; rushed in between the parties ; 
all listened, sat down, were astonished at ‘the power of God in 
shutting the mouths of their guns, and in making their clubs 
and spears useless,’ had a friendly conference, agreed to live at 
peace with each other, and dispersed. 

“It was a complete victory on the side of Christianity. 
Day after day the teachers had fresh converts from heathenism, 
and soon there were none left in that district but a few harmless, 
uninfluential obstinates.”’ 


WHY THE CARTRIDGES FAILED TO GO OFF 

One tribe of savages on cannibal Malekula, in the New 
Hebrides, had become friendly to the mission. But still they 
held to the bush custom of keeping their rifles and muskets 
handy. Superintendent C. H. Parker, of the Seventh-day Ad- 
ventist mission, tells how he saw the hand of God distinctly 
revealed at a crisis in the tribal conflicts, all the heathen evi- 
dently being impressed that God was speaking to their hearts. 
Here is Superintendent Parker’s account : 


“‘ Several months went by, and the Big Nambus shot an old 
man from the heathen portion of the Malua Bay town which 
had not united with the mission. His two sons retaliated, and 
killed the man who killed their father. Then they came down 
with all their relatives, and settled on the mission. This caused 
the Big Nambus to look at the mission as confederate with 
these men, and they declared war upon the mission. 

“One morning at daybreak Missionary Smith was going 
down to his pasture, which was under a cliff, to milk his cow. 
Twenty yards from him a native rose up in the path and leveled 
his musket at him, with the words, in pidgin English: ‘ Master, 
Master, you listen to me. You stop, go back to the mission. 
We fight not you, but your black boys.’ 

“ Brother Smith turned to go back, but had taken only a few 
steps when there was the crack of a rifle up on the top of the hill, 


268 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


followed by a crash of musketry. Missionary Smith hastened 
to the top, and there in the path lay the chief of the town shot 
dead. 

“Our villagers all rushed out with their rifles, and aimed 
at the fleeing forms of their enemies. But something happened ; 
not one of those rifles went off. Once again they tried, with 
the same result. They were astonished beyond measure, and 
said they had never had that experience before. They could 
not understand it, but a few days later they did. Waiting below 
the cliff were over two hundred Big Nambus men. If one of 
their attacking party had been killed or wounded, they would 
have rushed the town and blotted it out of existence, and no 
doubt in their rage they would have killed both Brother and 
Sister Smith. Whose hand kept those cartridges from explod- 
ing? ‘There is only one answer, God. 


GOD’S WONDERFUL PROVIDENCE 


“Exhausted through watching day and night, our native 
people requested that we should remove them to some other 
island, where their enemies could not reach them. Missionary 
Smith and I talked the matter over on our knees before God, 
and we were both agreed that this could not be done without 
destruction to all of our work along the Malekulan coast. 

“In this light we put the matter before our poor people. 
They acknowledged it was so, but it was hard for them to make 
the supreme sacrifice. Then the faith of Brother and Sister 
Smith rose to the occasion, and they said, ‘ We will stay, though 
not another soul stays with us.’ This was the turning-point 
for victory, and demonstrates the truthfulness of 1 John 5:4: 
‘This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.’ 

“The next day was Sabbath, and the Lord gave a wonderful 
meeting. After Missionary Smith had spoken on faith, the 
Lord’s Spirit took possession of the meeting. Harry, who had 
been so badly wounded at the first, got up and said quietly, 
‘I am now ready to be a martyr for my Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ.’ 

“Manoa, his brother, rose and said, ‘Harry has given in 
my testimony, for I will never leave this place alive.’ The 
waters of the great deep were broken up, and all were weeping 
like children. 

“ At this juncture something took place. Dark forms glided 
back and forth before the door, and it seemed to Brother and 


USELESS WEAPONS 269 


Sister Smith that the supreme sacrifice was about to be required, 
but instead it was a large bush tribe who had been thinking, 
before the trouble began, about leaving their heathenism and 
uniting with the mission. They had now come down to medi- 
ate between our people and the Tinambet tribe of Big Nambus, 
who had been causing all the trouble. 

“While they were talking, several other tribes of bush 
people came; and, stranger than all, several of the Tinambet 
men came and manifested a very friendly spirit. They told 
Missionary Smith that the way was all open now for him to 
visit their chief, and that he need not have a particle of fear, 
for the chief would like to see him, and that they would give 
him a bodyguard up and back. 

“They said also, ‘We have no quarrel with your mission, 
and we want it to stay.’ In a short time all their differences 
were adjusted, and a friendly spirit created again. 

“ Brethren, how true these words, ‘Fear thou not; for I 
am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will 
strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee’ ” 





HINDU TEMPLE OF SOUTH INDIA 


70 


Faithful Stewardship Honored 


“Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His 
righteousness; and all these things shall be added 
unto you.’ Matthew 6: 33. 


THE DEDICATED TREE 
From all about, in one district of India, heathen men and 
women came to a convert’s plantation to see the barren tree 
that God had blessed with fruitage. Here is the story: 


“An old man found the light of truth. He had been a 
Hindu for fifty years. He was a bright, intelligent man, 
though his degree of enlightenment, they say, was not so 
wonderfully great. He had received the Scriptures as the 
voice of the living God; and he believed what he found therein. 
He obeyed God, and the Lord honored his faith, 

“In his Christian experience he decided to ‘ honor the Lord 
with his substance.’ He heard of the instruction of God to 
His people anciently, that one tenth of their increase was the 
Lord’s, holy unto His service. The old man determined to 
return to God the tithe of all the Lord gave him. 

“He had a grove of cocoanut trees. That was his living. 
He went through them, marking every tenth tree for the Lord. 
When this was done, he found that he had set the Lord’s mark 
upon one tree that was barren. It came tenth in the order of 
marking, and he had not noticed it as he had counted and set 
the marks. What should he do? He had not meant to bring 
to the Lord any offering with a blemish upon it. 

“ Realizing the integrity of his own purpose, but troubled 
over the matter, he fell upon his knees at the foot of the barren 
tree, and prayed to God, ‘O Lord, accept this tree, for Thou 
knowest that I did not choose it as Thine because of its bar- 
renness.’ 

“That year the tree bore ninety nuts. People from all 
about came to see the tree that had never borne fruit until 
it was dedicated to the living God.” 


THE LOAD OF DEBT LIFTED 
A missionary in the far south of China, wrote of a fisher-/ 
man convert who had fallen so deeply into debt that he was 
271 


272 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


eady in his discouragement to give up his Christian faith and 
Sabbath worship, feeling that he must go out and work full 
seven days every week in order to live. 

The man’s little boy, attending the mission school, begged 
his father not to give up. ‘‘ Come,” he said, “come to the 
meeting once more, father, and I will ask them to pray God 
to help you. Father, do come!” 

Led by the boy’s pleading faith, the father went to the 
Sabbath meeting. There he told of his debts and discourage- 
ment and temptation. His fellow believers encouraged him 
and prayed for him, and anew he took his stand to be true to 
“sod. Prayer for financial blessing was offered for the man. 
(he missionary told how the fisherman came out: 

“That evening, starting out fishing, he was impressed to go 
in a direction opposite to his fellow fishermen. He himself was 
aware that it was not ordinarily a good place, and also others 
told him not to go that way. But he heeded no one and went, 
following some inward guidance. It was not long before he 
had a load of fish worth a very large sum in Chinese wage. 

“Some nights later, again going out in the evening, he had 
a draught of fishes yet larger, while all the rest of the men, who 
caught nothing, were greatly astonished. He paid all his debts, 
and bought for his boy, who is with us learning weaving, some 
new shoes and clothing. His joy as well as ours is great.” 

THE BRICKKILN THAT SURPRISED A CONTRACTOR 

It was in the Telugu country of South India. A mission 
chapel was to be built by Missionary T. R. Flaiz, and a Hindu 
contractor had the job of burning the bricks. As a condition 
of the contract, he was not to stoke the fires on the Sabbath day. 
There came a time, however, when he declared he must con- 
tinue feeding the fires into the hours of the Sabbath. This is 
the narrative of experience, as reported by Superintendent G. G. 
Lowry, of the South India Union Mission: 

‘““When the contractor was asked how long the kiln would 
have to be fired before the furnaces could be closed and sealed 
up, he replied that usually they had to be fired from twelve to 
eighteen hours before the furnaces were finally sealed. 


FAITHFUL STEWARDSHIP HONORED LIS 


“It was pointed out to him that it was then only a few 
hours until the Sabbath was to begin, and that on the Sabbath 
all work must cease. The foreman replied that he could not 
help that, the fires had already been started, and they must be 
kept going until all the wood had caught fire before the fur- 
naces were closed, even though it should take most of the 
Sabbath to do it. 

“He was then told that the furnaces must absolutely be 
closed before the hours of the Sabbath, no matter what hap- 
~pened. The foreman said, ‘If you do this, the fires which are 





Brick Layers of India 


just getting started will go out, the bricks will be only one third 
burned, and all our work on the kiln will be lost. If you insist 
on this foolish way of prematurely sealing up the furnaces, I 
will leave the job and go home.’ He was told that he could do 
as he pleased about going home, but the furnaces would be 
closed before the Sabbath. He was very angry and went home. 

“As soon as he was gone, Missionary Flaiz and his helpers 
set to work as hard as they could, and stoked the fires, putting in 
all the fuel that the furnaces would hold, and then closed them 
up. They sealed the last furnace, and then all knelt down in 
prayer around the pile of burning brick, and asked the Lord, 
who doeth all things well, to bless the work of their hands, and 
to see to it that the bricks were properly burned so that they 
could build their church, and thus glorify His name. They went 
to bed that night, and left the kiln in God’s hands. 

18 


274 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


“Next day they found that instead of the fires going out, 
as all the unbelievers had predicted, the whole kiln from one 
end to the other was alive and roaring with fire. And it kept 
burning until the bricks were perfectly burned. 

“The old foreman, hearing about this, came back to see if 
the bricks were properly burned. Upon examining them, he 
found them perfectly sound, and noticed also that by pre- 
maturely closing up the furnaces, nearly half of the wood 
provided for the burning of the brick had been saved. This 
put a new idea into his head, and thinking to profit by this 
experience, he went and took another contract for brick-making 
for considerably less than the usual price, hoping to save on the 
wood as our people had done. But instead of having a similar 
experience, his fires went out soon after the furnaces were 
sealed, his bricks were spoiled, and he lost heavily. 

‘Not only our own people but all the Hindus round about 
are convinced that the living God is different from other gods, 
and really does things that show He is the true God.” 


A MISSION OF COMFORT 


One night in the East Bengal delta country, among the 
villages built along the canals and rivers, an evangelist received 
an impression that he must go to a certain village and to a 
certain little home. He knew not why, but he learned later 
why God had sent him that night with a message of comfort 
to one of His children. This is the story told by Pastor 
Cormack, of Southern Asia, while attending a convention in 
America: 


“One poor man in East Bengal sent word to one of our 
schools, ‘I want to pay to the Lord a tenth of all He gives me, 
but I do not know how to reckon it. Will you send one of the 
boys down to figure it out for me?’ So Evangelist Mookerjee 
sent a schoolboy down, and he reckoned up what that man’s 
tithe was, and it amounted to ten rupees (about three dollars) 
for the whole year. He said, ‘I will pay that.’ 

“A good while afterward Pastor Mookerjee had an im- 
pression one night that he must get in his boat and go to a 
certain village and visit a certain hut. How do such impressions 
come? Well, God, who moves ina mysterious way, has a divine 
system of wireless telegraphy. Evangelist Mookerjee tied up 


FAITHFUL STEWARDSHIP HONORED AES 


his boat at the village, and went to the hut. There he found 
the wife of this poor man lying sick even unto death. The 
husband said, ‘ My wife is unconscious almost all the time, but 
she said, “If only I could just once see the man that baptized 
me, I should die happy.” Who sent you, brother?’ 
“Brother Mookerjee told him it was the Lord. He sat 
there, and the wife seemed to be unconscious, lying on that 





A Little Native Home in the Delta Country of East Bengal 


rude bed, waiting for death. Then she regained consciousness, 
and when she saw the visitor, she turned over, and from the 
corner of her shawl untied a knot in the cloth, and took out 
six rupees. With her breath coming slowly and laboriously, 
she said, ‘ We have always paid the ten rupees tithe.’ You see 
they paid ten rupees every year because they did not know how 
to reckon the amount exactly. ‘ We have always paid it until 
this year, and we have been keeping it, but because of this sick- 
ness my husband has spent four rupees. He spent four, and we 
are so sorry. I am so sorry that he did it, but here are the six 
rupees. And after I am gone he will earn the other four, and 
will make up this year’s ten rupees.’ 


276 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


“It was cold, as it can be at certain times in the year in that 
country. The man was almost naked, and his wife was very 
poorly covered and thinly clad. He was sitting at a fire that 
had gone out because they had no fuel, and was nursing a little 
child that was shivering; yet they would not break further into 
the Lord’s tenth. 

“T think that God can 
take six rupees and breathe 
upon them a blessing that 
will make them go farther 
than thousands of dollars 
upon which we sometimes 
place our dependence.” 


Who does not know 
why that impression was 
wirelessed to the evan- 
gelist that night? Surely 
it was because a poor 
woman, a _ conscientious 
steward of God, doing 
business for Heaven, was 
longing in her dying hours 
to have the joy of dis- 
charging just one more 
sacred trust before passing 
into eternity. 





‘* BLESS THIS HARVEST! ’’ 


E. D. Thomas and His Family 
Superintendent of the Tamil Mission, A tenant farmer in 


South India y 
South India was. con- 


verted. One of the things required of him by the owner of 
the land was that, according to custom, a fowl should be slain 
for Krishna at a certain season in order to insure a bounti- 
ful harvest. Missionary Lowry wrote of the convert’s ex- 
perience: 

~ “ He decided that it would be a sin to make such a sacrifice, 


so he asked his landlord to excuse him from performing this 
ceremony, and told him the reason. 


FAITHFUL STEWARDSHIP HONORED 2h 


“The landlord was impatient with him, and told him that 
he would not run the risk of having a failure in the crop just 
because he did not wish to make the sacrifice, and said, ‘ If you 
do not make the offering, then you will have to leave my place.’ 

“ Poor Paul did not know what to do, for it meant much for 
him to face the prospect of leaving his home and finding another 
place to farm, and yet he felt that he could not disobey God. 

“ The time finally came for him to make the offering, so he 
brought his chicken along and made ready for the sacrifice. 
He was told to take the chicken by the neck and swing it around 
and around over his head and say, ‘O shree [holy] Krishna, 
bless this crop and give a bountiful harvest!’ He took the fowl 
and swung it around his head, but instead of saying, ‘O shree 
Krishna,’ he said, ‘O shree Jehovah, bless this crop and give 
a bountiful harvest.’ 

“The landlord was displeased, and threatened to drive him 
away if the crop in any way failed. But the Lord surely heard 
the simple prayer of this humble man, and gave the best crop 
the land had ever produced. So we see that indeed ‘the Lord’s 
hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, 
that it cannot hear,’ but that He is ever ready to hear the prayer 
of him who calls upon Him in faith.” 


PROTECTED FROM THE DESTROYER 

From missionary reports from India and from the Philip- 
pines come two very similar narratives of the experiences of 
two simple believers who “proved” the promise of the Lord 
in Malachi: 

“ Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, . . . and prove 
Me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you 
the windows of heaven, . . . and I will rebuke the devourer 
for your sakes.” 

In South India a Telugu told his experience, related thus 
by the missionary who heard it: 

“Samson had been very faithful in paying tithes on every- 
thing, whether much or little. He had a field of rice which was 
just ready to be harvested. The heads of rice were heavy and 
bending over with the weight of ripened grain. Just at this 


time a heavy wind and rain storm came, which absolutely swept 
down and destroyed the rice fields of the farmers who lived 


278 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


around Samson, and whose fields adjoined his, but not a stalk 
of his rice was blown down nor a grain of it lost. His field 
was left standing absolutely unmolested by the storm, a very 
striking testimony to the heathen of the faithfulness of the 
Christians’ God in protecting those who are faithful to Him. 

“The faith of Samson and our other Telugu brethren has 
been greatly strengthened by this experience. And those around 
who know not the true God have been led to say, “ What manner 
of thing is this? We have never seen things done after this 
fashion before.’ ”’ 


How a family in the Philippines found protection in the 
promises is told in another report, based on the story the wife 
and mother told at a mission meeting: 


“The Philippines for two or three years had been infested 
with locusts, and they were thick in the neighborhood of this 
woman’s cornfield. The fields of neighbors were being de- 
voured. This field was six or eight miles up in the mountains, 
and one day the woman anxiously made a visit to the place. 
fearing that all would be devoured. They were tithe payers, 
however, and had read where God says, ‘ Prove Me;’ and that 
if we do pay our tithe, He will rebuke the devourer for our sakes. 
These promises they had pleaded in their prayers. To the be- 
lieving woman’s great delight and, she confessed, to her surprise, 
she found that the locusts had parted when they came to her 
field, and had gone on both sides. The field remained untouched 
until the crop matured.” 


THE BENGAL FISHERMAN 


He was a fisherman in the delta of the Ganges. An Indian 
evangelist had told him of a coming conference, and urged him 
to go. The story is told by Evangelist Mookerjee, superintend- 
ent of our East Bengal Mission: 


“*But I am a poor man,’ the fisherman said; ‘how can 
I go?’ 

“ He earned about 20 or at best 25 cents a day by catching 
fish. He and his family had to live on this amount. 

‘“*T cannot go,’ he repeated, ‘ my wife has no proper clothing 
for the meeting; and seldom have we two days of food supply 
ahead. How can I get money enough to buy food for the four 
or five days of the meeting?’ 


FAITHFUL STEWARDSHIP HONORED 279 


“That seemed the end of the matter. ‘ But,’ he added, 
‘if I ought to go to the meeting, you will have to pray God to 
send me the money,’ and they did pray; feeling a special burden, 
they prayed earnestly that God would open the way. 

“That night the Bengali fisherman set his traps as usual; 
but in the morning, when he went out to look at them, he found 
them full of fish. When he spread the whole upon the bank, he 
found it by far the greatest catch he had ever made. He usually 
caught a few annas’ worth of fish in a night, but here were 
rupees’ worth! 

“When he sold the fish, he declared that never before in 
his life had he held so much of his own money in his hand. 
He knew that it was the answer of God to the prayers for help. 
He bought clothing for the wife, and together they went to the 
conference, where they gave their testimony to the delivering 
hand of God. 

“The Friend of the Galilean fishermen still lives,” said the 
evangelist in closing this report, ““and shows Himself in this 
touching incident as the friend of the fisherman of Bengal, and 
the encourager of the hearts of His missionaries, to whom 
nothing is so refreshing as to see unmistakable evidences of 
the Lord’s providential hand leading His children.” 


AMIDST VOLCANIC FIRES 


In the reports of mission work in the island of Java is the 
story of a faithful Christian, whose first thought after escape 
from a volcanic eruption was to bring in her gift of money for 
the Lord’s work. A visitor to Java heard of the incident from 
Missionary Albert Munson, and reported the experience as 
follows: 


“In a kampong [little native village] on the slopes of Mt. 
Kloet —the scene of the awful catastrophe of 1919— there 
lives an elderly Chinese woman who is a member of the church. 
She earned a scanty living by selling fruit and vegetables grown 
in the kampong. 

“Twice a year this Christian woman brings to the mission 
a bag of coppers — the tithe of her meager income. 

“During the eruption of Kloet, it was thought that this 
aged Chinese believer must have been lost, and all hope for her 
safety was given up. Imagine the joyful surprise at the mission 
when one day in she came as usual, with her bag of coppers ! 


280 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


‘“‘On being questioned as to her escape amidst the disaster, 
she told how the burning lava poured down the slopes of the 
mountain, destroying villages and hundreds of lives. As the 
flood of fiery lava came to the top of her kampong, the lava 
stream suddenly divided, and passed on either side, leaving her 
village and its people unharmed, though they were in utter 





© Herbert Photos, N. 


Volcano, Mt. Bromo, Java 


darkness for some time. As soon as she was able to travel 
through the débris and ruin left by the eruption over the moun- 
tain side, this aged Christian’s first thought was to bring in her 
tithe, sacredly laid up for the work of God. 

“As I listened to this story,” said the visitor, “ the words of 
the psalmist came to my mind: ‘ He that dwelleth in the secret 
place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the 
Almighty,’ also the promise, ‘ Bring ye all the tithes into the 
storehouse, . . . and I will rebuke the devourer for your 
sakes,’ ”’ 


FAITHFUL STEWARDSHIP HONORED 281 


| REBUKING THE DEVOURER 

One of the richest farming countries in the world is the 
region of South Australia near Mt. Gambier. Riding out from 
the city by horse and cart with Pastor C. P. Michaels, I attended 
a meeting in the midst of this farming district. There I met 
one of the new believers who had had a remarkable experience 
of the Lord’s intervention to rebuke the devourer for the sake 
of those who trust in Him. It will be remembered that the Lord 
exhorts His people to faithfulness in paying tithes and offerings, 
and makes the promise: “I will rebuke the devourer for your 
sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground.” 
Malwosi1 1. 

A year or more before our visit, a brother in that region, 
a farmer, found himself threatened with disaster. He had 
made heavy investments in starting his farm, and was depend- 
ent upon the year’s crops to meet his payments. When, there- 
fore, a plague of caterpillars swept the region, the brother’s 
situation became precarious. Evangelist T. A. Brown, who was 
an eyewitness, related in these words the deliverance that came 
to our brother: 

“The district was visited by a plague of caterpillars, which 
destroyed acres of beautiful grain and grass crops. It seemed 
as if nothing could stop them. One man was the proud possessor 
of a particularly fine field of grass, soon to be cut for hay. 
The devastating pests bared his land as if it had been plowed 
and harrowed. Right beside it was an immense field of oats 
belonging to one of the brethren lately come into the truth. 
This brother watched the caterpillars, like Attila’s hordes, pour- 
ing through the fence toward his crop. His workman. who 
is not a Seventh-day Adventist, standing by, remarked quite 
seriously, ‘ You need not fear, they will not touch your oats, 
because you keep the commandments of God.” And so it was. 
Our heavenly Father was true to His promise in Malachi 3: 11. 

“On visiting there some days afterward, I saw the dead 
bodies of these devourers lying thick along the edge of the oats, 
as if the angel of God had allowed them to come to the danger 
point, then ‘breathed in the face of the foe as he passed,’ 
smiting them with death before they touched one blade. The 


282 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


bare acres on one side of the wire fence, and the full waving 
heads of strong, healthy oats on the other, were an overwhelm- 
ing evidence of the reality of God and of His fidelity to His 
promises.” 

As we talked of the experience, our brother, whose heart was 
very tender at the thought of it, told us how he stood by his 
fence, watching. “I got down by the fence alone,” he said, 
“and prayed the Lord to help me.” He was new in this way 
and in religious experience, having but just begun to yield 
obedience to the Lord’s truth. He knew the Lord had delivered 
him, he said. But because of his indebtedness in getting started, 
he had not as yet begun to pay the Lord’s tithe. So it went until 
the next year’s crops were well grown. Then again the insect 
grubs appeared in the fields. He got a neighbor, one of our 
brethren, to go quickly down to get poison with which to fight 
the grubs and to save as much of his crop as possible. 

“TI determined then and there,’ he said, “that henceforth 
I would give to the Lord the tithe, whatever came.” 

He felt that God had blessed him the year before in a 
marvelous way, rebuking the devourer, and that he had not 
kept faith with God. A new and deeper experience came to 
him as he faced what seemed inevitable disaster. The neighbor 
came with the poison, and went out into the fields to begin the 
fight. Soon, however, he came back to the house, saying: 

“You don’t need to put the poison out. The caterpillars 
are climbing down the stalks and leaving the field.” 

And so it actually was. We saw brethren at the general 
meeting who testified that of a truth the caterpillars forsook 
the place, leaving the waving fields as a testimony to the 
delivering hand of God. 

As the troubles of the world increase and the curse devours 
the earth, we cannot expect to carry all the material things 
through to the finishing of the work. We must, like Habakkuk, 
rejoice even if the fields and herds should fail. But ever and 
anon the Lord’s dealings with His children here and there show 
that He is standing by, able to deliver. 


FAITHFUL STEWARDSHIP HONORED 283 


A TESTIMONY FROM CONSTANTINOPLE 


The treasurer of our church in Constantinople, Mrs. 
Diamond Ashod, once told of her observation of the truthful- 
ness of that promise in Malachi, in the experiences of a mixed 
church of Greeks, Armenians, and other nationalities, seeking 
to keep the faith and win souls in that cosmopolitan city of 
Turkey. She wrote: 


“For ten years I have been serving the Constantinople 
church as its treasurer. During this time I could not help but 
observe how the Lord has blessed those members who were 
faithful in tithe paying. I know members who were very poor 
in the beginning, but who faithfully brought in the tithe of their 
little income; and I saw how from week to week their tithe in- 
creased. There were others financially well situated but un- 
faithful, and in the course of time they lost their good position, 
shop, or work. I also noticed that the blessings of tithe paying 
are not limited to material prosperity, but that they bring also 
many spiritual blessings. I will mention here only one case 
which exemplifies the above statements : 

“There was one brother with his wife who could hardly 
make their living. They had two small children and a grown 
son, a selfish, unconverted boy, who never rendered the slightest 
help to his parents for the support of the family. 

“Tt was during the Great War, when every one was on 
rations. I noticed that the meager tithe of this family was not 
coming in regularly. I visited them one Friday afternoon, and 
was impressed more than at any time before with their poverty 
and how little they had. We spoke on other topics, and after 
the beginning of the Sabbath I returned home. 

“T went again the next Friday, and God helped me to speak 
to them in a convincing way about faithfulness in tithe paying 
and the blessings that will follow. Then the brother said: 

““*T have earned only 100 piasters [$5] this whole week, 
and we have spent all but one-half dollar, with which I was 
intending to buy some bread and cheese for tomorrow. We 
have only a very little food for this evening. But I am con- 
vinced of my wrong, and now I prefer that we have no food 
for tomorrow, and I will pay my tithe with this fifty cents.’ 

““He opened his purse and handed it to me, that I might 
take the fifty cents, which was all the purse contained. I took 


284 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


the money with trembling hands. I had the feeling that I was 
touching something holy. But I told him that God could do 
wonders, if he would believe on Him. Then we had Sabbath 
worship together, and I came home. 

“When I reached home, I was troubled. I did not know 
whether I should send them some food, or not. Finally I 
decided to leave the matter with the Lord, believing that He 
could work wonders. Still I could hardly eat my supper, and 
that night I slept very little. 

“The next morning I went early to church. Soon after- 
ward the brother came to me, pressed my hand, and said: “ We 
are thankful to you that you took our last fifty cents yesterday. 
We have learned a great lesson. We have seen that God can 
do wonders for us if we are faithful. A short time after you 
left us last evening, the grocer of our quarter came in with 
two loaves of bread, saying that not all of his customers had 
come on that day to take their fixed portion of bread, and 
thinking that we were needy, he wished to present these surplus 
loaves to us. An hour later our son came home with a full 
basket of eatables, a thing which he had never done before.’ 

“After this experience, this family continued to pay their 
tithes and offerings faithfully, and in a short time a considerable 
increase was noticed in their weekly income.” 


THE BLESSING UPON THE FIELDS 


A missionary in the Philippine Islands, Superintendent S. E. 
Jackson, of the Philippine Union Mission, told in the Far 
Eastern Division Outlook, of a member’s experience who took 
God at His word. He said: 


“A good member named Augustin lives at Tagudin, P. I. 
Tagudin and vicinity suffered very much by drouth this year, 
so much so that the rice crop was very short; but when Brother 
Augustin came to harvest his rice, he found that he had twice 
as much as last year from the same field. The neighbors are 
saying, ‘Oh, that must be because Augustin pays tithe.’ Yes; 
Brother Augustin is not only faithful in tithe paying, but in all 
his Christian duties, and his is a happy Christian family, 
blessed of his God.” 


Continuing this theme of the blessedness of rendering to 
the Lord the sacred tenth, Missionary Jackson wrote in this 


FAITHFUL STEWARDSHIP HONORED 285 


Asiatic journal of experiences that came under his observation 
back in his home country. He wrote: 


“There was a young man in Minnesota, a farmer, whose 
mother was a believer, but whose father was not. Marrying, 
the youth was not being prosperous on his own farm in spite 
of his industry. He was a bit careless of religious things. He 
fell ill with typhoid, and for a time his life was despaired of. 

“His mind_was clear, however, and he promised God that 
if He would only spare his life, and permit him to rise from 
his bed of sickness and go about his work, he would ever pay 
his tithe and live a consistent Christian life. He had decided to 
take his heavenly Father at His word; and so with recurring 
strength he endeavored in every way to live a consistent Chris- 
tian life as he went about his work. At harvest time an honest 
tithe was returned to God. 

“In the course of three or four years financial matters began 
to brighten up very decidedly, and at the end of ten years his 
eighty-acre farm was paid for, and he purchased three more 
eighty-acre tracts, so now he was the owner of 320 acres. He 
had built a fine house and barn, and had contributed hundreds 
of dollars to foreign missions. 

“This brother is still living, paying a good tithe and giving 
much in donations to the Lord’s cause. No manner of argu- 
ment can make him believe that God does not do exactly as He 
says, ‘ Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, . . . and 
prove Me now herewith, . . . if I will not . . . pour you out 
a blessing.’ 

“A different experience came to another family in the same 
State. It was about the year 1879. At that time the grass- 
hoppers, or locusts, were raiding many sections of the country. 
They came in swarms of countless thousands, sometimes literally 
darkening the sun. After deciding on a place to light, they 
settle down on the ground and march straight ahead, eating 
and destroying every green thing before them. 

“This tithe-paying family was living in the community 
being devastated by this pest. The man was poor, and felt 
that he could not afford to lose his crop. The country was 
new then, and there was little to live on if the crop failed, 
so the family took the matter to the Lord in prayer. They told 
Him that they had been living Christian lives, that they had 
been paying their tithe, and reminded Him of His promise that 


286 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


if they should bring the tithe into the treasury, He would pour 
them out a blessing; and they asked that their crops might be 
protected in this trying time. 

“Meanwhile the grasshoppers were marching straight for 
his little wheatfield. They came within a few meters of it, 
and then, without any cause or reason known to man, the 
column parted, and went around it on both sides, letting the 
field stand untouched. Yes, indeed! this family believes that 
God will do just what He says, and that when He says, “ Bring 
ye all the tithes into the storehouse, and prove Me now,’ if we 
bring in the tithe, He will do His part and will give a blessing.” 


THE APPLE ORCHARD 
From an Australian paper comes this story of an orchard 
that revived under partnership with God. The late Pastor J. N. 
Loughborough, visiting Australia on an evangelistic tour, cer- 
tified to his knowledge of the facts. He met a farmer who was 
in debt on his place. The farmer said: 


“T have tried to pay it off for several years, but cannot 
reduce the debt. I do not see, therefore, how I can agree 
to pay one tenth of my income while I still owe that debt. 
I believe the system of tithe paying is all right, but how can 
ioomitein 


Pastor Loughborough continued the farmer’s story to its 
sequel in the Australasian Record of some years ago: 


“He had a fine fruit orchard, and from it he got a good 
crop each alternate year. I spoke to him of the Lord’s promise 
in Malachi of opening the windows of heaven upon his crop, 
and I was impressed to say to him with much force, ‘ Brother, 
the Lord could easily make your trees bear an abundant crop 
of apples every year.’ I was somewhat startled myself, after 
I had said it, especially when he replied with much force, 
‘Do you think so? I will make the pledge.’ And so he did, 
and was very happy as the result of his decision. The tide of 
affairs with this brother began to turn at once. That year he 
had the finest crop of apples he had ever had, while the crop 
of fruit in the adjoining orchards was short. 

“This brother also related his experience at a later period 
and said, ‘My debts are all paid. J have several shares in the 
publishing association, and cash on hand.’ 


FAITHFUL STEWARDSHIP HONORED 287 


“ But now for the sequel of this story. Some years later 
the daughter of this brother, meeting me, said, ‘Do you re- 
member what you said to my father when you were urging him 
to take hold of the tithing principle?’ I replied, ‘ Yes, I do, 
and I was startled after I had said it, and he decided so quickly 
to do it. I was not a prophet, and the thought occurred to me, 
Now he will expect a big crop of apples, and if he does not 
get it, what can I say?’ 

““ Well,’ the daughter replied, ‘there has never been a year 
since but that orchard has borne a fine crop of apples. It not 
only helped father out of debt, but furnished means with which 
to help the cause. That is not all. That fruit orchard is noted 
all over the country. Nurserymen come to ask father how he 
manages to get such great crops of apples every year. ‘ To be 
candid,” he says, “I do not treat my orchard any differently 
from what my neighbors treat theirs. JI can only call it the 
blessing of the Lord.” ” 


DESTROYERS TURNED ASIDE 


A woman of Cebu, one of the islands in the Philippines, 
claimed the promise, and her eyes saw the deliverance sent 
directly from heaven. Secretary C. C. Crisler heard the story 
from her lips when on a visit to the Cebuan missions. Having 
written of one Cebuan business man who told how wonderfully 
God had blessed him in tithe paying, Secretary Crisler added: 


“A member of a near-by church in the same mission, told 
of her payment of a faithful tithe, and of an experience she had 
had with the locusts. Locusts in great swarms were approaching 
her little field where the year’s crops were in an advanced stage, 
nearing the time of harvest. She prayed earnestly to God, and 
pleaded the promise of protection assured tithe payers, as set 
forth in Malachi and other scriptures. The locusts came on and 
on; the sister kept on praying. When the devastating scourge 
reached her field, having swept clean everything before them, 
they suddenly parted and went around her field, clearing the 
land on either side of all vegetation, and reuniting on the oppo- 
site side of her property, destroying all as they continued their 
advance. Her field stood out alone in that region, untouched, 
witnessing to God’s power to protect those who are determined 
to obey faithfully His commands.” 


Healing as a Sign 


“ They draw near unto the gates of death. Then 
they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He 
saveth them out of their distresses. He sent Hts 
word, and healed them, and delivered them from 
their destructions.’” Psalms 107: 18-20. 


Note.— The record of God’s intervention in response to prayer for 
the sick, whether in mission lands or at home, is too vast in volume to 
permit entering upon in this narrative. Herewith are only incidents 





F. A. Stahl With the Indians of Peru 


On a medical missionary visit at the home of Chief Ticoli, who had pleaded 
for a mission for his people 


which show how this stretching forth of the healing hand in dark places 
has proved to be a sign to the beholders that the living God hears prayer, 
and has opened the way for gospel work. 
THE MEDICINE MAN’S BABY 

Mission work, for the first time in the history of that 
region, was beginning among the wild forest tribes.on the 
Peruvian headwaters of the Amazon. Confidence was but 
partially won. Any awkward incident might lead to fierce 


288 


HEALING AS A SIGN 289 


hostility. Just then an Indian, evidently a chief, came with 
his wife to the missionary. They brought a sick babe. At the 
first examination Missionary F. H. Stahl saw that the infant 
was near death with pneumonia. An account gives the sequel: 


“The babe was gasping for breath. Clearly no treatment 
would avail. But the missionary was wonderfully stirred. He 





A Mission Station Under a Tree 
A witch doctor of the Amazon country who brought his baby to be healed 


was so anxious to do something for those wild people to win 
their hearts and to minister to them the word of life. He said 
to the chief, 

“*T can do nothing, myself, for your child.’ 

“Then he told him, in a few brief words, about the God of 
heaven whom he served and loved; and he said to the Indian, 

“*This God whom I serve can heal your child.’ 

“It means much, under such circumstances, to move by 
faith and not step over the line into presumption. There is 
where the Spirit of God must lead. 

“The missionary knelt down there with that Indian and 
his wife, and prayed to God for that babe, laying his hands 
upon it and anointing it with oil, When he arose from his 
knees, the babe was sleeping and breathing naturally. He then 
did what he could as a nurse to help the child, and to show these 
Indians that it was right, while trusting God, to do all that is 
possible on the human side. The Indians went away after 
three days, the child fully restored. 


19 


290 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


“The missionary had noticed some peculiar ornaments worn 
by the chief. After their departure, he inquired about the 
visitors. ‘Who was that chief?’ he asked, ‘and what are 
those ornaments and trappings that he had about him?’ 

“* Oh,’ he was told, ‘don’t you know that man? He is the 
medicine man for that whole tribe; and if he has come to you, 
then all the other Indians will come also for help.’ 

“Thus God had revealed His power in a way to break 
down prejudice and suspicion.” 


SICKNESS RETURNED WHEN IDOLS WERE RESTORED 
From Manchuria the following experience was reported 
by Bernhard Petersen: 


“A little boy attending one of our schools came from a 
heathen home, but what he heard of the gospel story day by 
day made an impression on his mind, and he told his parents 
of the things he learned. Asa result, his father became inter- 
ested, and expressed a desire to study the Bible. His wife had 
been sick for a long time, and asked if our evangelist could not 
come over and pray for her recovery. The evangelist went. 
but before offering prayer he asked that the idols be removed. 
This was done, and they joined in prayer together. The next 
day the wife felt much better, and she kept steadily improving. 

“One day her mother visited her, and seeing that the idols 
were gone and learning the reason, persuaded her daughter to 
restore them. She did as her mother said, and with the restora- 
tion of the idols the sickness also returned. Now she refuses 
even to talk when any of our people visit her. 

“But her husband’s mother noticed the effect of prayer 
in her case, with healing, and how the sickness returned when 
the idols were restored, and it made such an impression on her 
that she began to attend our meetings and worship the true God.” 


ONE OF GOD’S WITNESSES IN THE BYWAYS 

Out in the villages of Kiangsu, China, an old Chinese 
woman was able to bear witness to the power of God to save. 
In a region where the people have few chances to know the 
way of life, the Lord used this faithful soul as a witness. 
Especially has He blessed her in praying for the sick. 

“TI never saw anything like it,” said Mrs. B. Miller, of the 
Seventh-day Adventist Mission, who had charge of the women’s 


HEALING AS A: SIGN 291 


work in a wide circle of villages. Mrs. Miller told me of 
Wu Tha Tha’s experiences as follows: 


“She is working now as a Bible woman. When she came 
to the first institute, she had never learned to read. In our 
institutes for the women we have always two or three hours 
of reading and study each day. I hesitated about giving Wu 
Tha Tha a primer on account of her age, but she begged to be 
given a chance; and at the end of the institute I found she had 
done better than the rest. She kept at her work, and in less 
than a month she had read every character in the book of John. 
Now she can read the whole Bible. But as for her gift in 
praying for the sick, I never saw anything like it. In dozens 
of cases the Lord has certainly blessed. 

“The wife of one of our native Chinese believers was taken 
sick. They sent for Tha Tha to come, but it was some time 
before she could make the journey. The wife of one of our 
evangelists went with her. Reaching the sick woman, they 
found her unconscious. The neighbors thought she was dead. 
But Tha Tha knelt down, and in her simple way prayed to the 
Lord who has all power. When she finished praying, the sick 
woman, who had been lying still and unconscious, took two 
deep breaths and called Tha Tha’s name. The evangelist’s wife 
is a cool, sober woman, not in the least given to being excited. 
She told of the sick woman lying there, so still and unmoved, 
but when Tha Tha prayed, she said, the woman took two 
deep breaths and sat up. 

“©, but it was wonderful!’ she said. 

“When Wu Tha Tha goes to pray for the sick, she will not 
pray for any until everything that indicates idol worship is 
thrown away. True it is that some who have been healed do 
not believe in Jesus.” 


““ THEN ASK HIM TO DO IT” 

Now and then to mission dispensaries come those cases 
that challenge the missionary’s own faith in the true and living 
God. Pastor M. N. Campbell, of England, visiting the mis- 
sions, brought back this narrative: 

To a station in West Africa a man was brought who had 
been bitten by a wild animal. A great piece of flesh had been 
torn out of his leg. Instead of bringing the man at once to 


292 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


the dispensary, they had allowed the native doctors to experi- 
ment until gangrene had set in and the victim was dying. Then 
they turned to the missionary. 


“As Missionary H. W. Lowe and his wife, a nurse, began 
to remove the native packing to cleanse the wound, they saw 
that the case was evidently hopeless. 

“Why did you not bring him sooner?’ they said. ‘Now 
it is too late. We can do nothing.’ 

“The natives drew apart a little way and held a palaver. 
Presently they returned, and a spokesman said, 

“Could your God heal this man?’ 

“Why, yes, of course He could. ' He has all power.’ 

“* Well, they said, ‘then you ask Him to do it.’ 

“Those missionaries realized that they were facing a chal- 
lenge, and that the power and reputation of the Christian’s God 
were at stake. It was a serious situation for those young folks. 
It was a real test of faith. But they met it. They went on 
their knees and asked God to vindicate His power; they pleaded 
with Him the need in that dark place of a sign that He is the 
true and living God. 

“Then they went to work and did all they could to co- 
operate with divine power. God heard their prayers, and in 
a marvelous way the dreadful wound began to heal. Before I 
left the country that man was able to hobble about with a stick. 
It showed me that God stands by His servants who go down 
into the dark places of the earth in His name.” 


‘“ YOUR GOD IS GREAT! ” 

It was only by special urging, in a great mission conference, 
that Missionary V. E. Toppenberg, of the Abyssinian Mission 
(Seventh-day Adventist), told of the healing of a man who 
had come many miles to the mission for help, having heard that 
“their God was great, and could help people in need.” Re- 
sponding to request for the story, Missionary Toppenberg said: 

“T have been rather reluctant to speak about these matters, 
because I do not profess to be a saint, and some people think 
that these things happen because of something good in us. I 
want to tell you that this experience has nothing to do with my 


Christianity. It is simply a matter of faith on the part of a 
poor heathen.” 


HEALING AS A SIGN 293 


Thereupon, he told the story as follows: 


“This old man heard of our mission work. You know we 
began our work in Abyssinia with medical work. It is indeed 
the key that unlocks hearts. This man came several days’ 
journey from the interior, and said, ‘I have heard that you pray 
to the God of heaven, and that He hears your prayers and can 
heal the sick.’ One side of this man’s face was so deformed 
that we thought he was born that way. He looked like a beast 
from that side. So we asked him what was the matter. 

“He said that some six or seven years ago this swelling 
came on him. He did not know what it was. We pressed on 
it in different places, and found it was almost as hard as the 
bones of his face, and so I said, ‘I am afraid we can do nothing 
for you, but we will pray.’ 

“He seemed very much disappointed that we would not do 
anything, so I painted his face with iodine. I was ashamed to 
arouse any hope in this man, but he would not leave us. 

“So I said, ‘I will take you down to the doctor, and see 
what he says. I am not a doctor.’ 

“There was a Russian doctor in the town who was a friend 
of mine, and I took him there, and said, ‘ This old man is very 
persistent, and I don’t know what to do.’ 

“He looked him over carefully and said, ‘This is a very 
severe cancer extending far down into the tissues of the neck. 
If we should operate on the man, he would probably die on the 
table. But if you think we ought to, and the old man is willing, 
we will give him an operation.’ When I told the man about it, 
he said, ‘ No, I will never have the doctor cut into me.’ 

“He followed us home, and stayed around so long that we 
were ashamed of it. My wife said, ‘I feel so sorry for that 
poor man. Let us pray for him.’ We did that for several days. 
The man left the station, but on the third day he came back. 
The boys came running to the door and said, ‘Come out and 
see that man.’ | 

“T went out and said, ‘What do you want?’ I did not 
recognize the man. He looked so surprised at me. I said to 
the boys, ‘ Who is that man?’ They told me that he was the 
man that came in the other day with that terrible face. I asked 
him, ‘Where have you been?’ His reply was, ‘I have been 
in my hut. I went home to my relatives feeling so sorry that 
you had only painted my face.’ ) . 


294 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


“ Then he began to smile, and it began to dawn on me that 
the Lord had done a wonderful thing for that man. [I said, 
‘Surely God must have done that,’ and the old man raised his 
hand and pointed to heaven and said, ‘God, God. Your God 
is great!’ So this man attributed his healing to God, and that 
is the only explanation that I can give of this case. I believe 
God does hear the prayers of these poor heathen when they 
are willing to lay hold of His power.” 


EAST INDIAN INCIDENTS 
In his “ Living Forces of the Gospel,” a pioneer German 
missionary to the East Indies, Joh. Warneck, gives the follow- 
ing incident of experience on Sumatra: 


“In Huta Djula, a mountainous region of Sumatra, Chris- 
tians give numerous examples of how God answered their 
prayers and how many heathen were thereby brought over to 
the church. A heathen whose son was sick unto death promised 
to become a Christian if God would answer their prayers on 
his behalf. 

“Thereupon a Christian chief prayed: ‘Lord, Thou hast 
heard our covenant; do not put us to shame, have mercy on us, 
and heal this sick one, that my comrades may see that Thou 
art God and hearest prayer, that they also may know Thee and 
love Thee, and cease betaking themselves to dead idols.’ The 
boy was restored and the family passed over to Christianity.” 


Yet further, he continues the story of East Indian ex- 
periences : 

“The reports of the Nias Mission have much to say of the 
life of fervent prayer. A heathen chief was seriously ill and 
had lost all speech and hearing. Salago, a young Christian, 
visits him, ‘that the people of Ojo may see that our God is al- 
mighty.’ He prays with the sick man: ‘Great Almighty God, 
Thou knowest why we are here; make this man well, and show 
Thy power and might to the people, that they also may follow 
Thee.’ Immediately the sick man could hear and speak. Medi- 
cine was then given him by the missionary Krumm, and he 
became quite well, and with sixty of his people threw away 
his idols. 

“Ama Gahonoa, the first fruits of the west coast, was 
zealous in prayer from the first moment of his conversion. His 
prayer was a talk with the heavenly Father. His prayers for 


HEALING AS A SIGN 295 


the sick were often followed by surprising results. The fol- 
lowing story indicates his relation to God: 

“‘ Called to a case of serious illness, he prayed for the resto- 
ration of the patient, but his prayer was in vain. He prayed 
again, but with no success. This occasioned him serious 
thoughts. During the night he was troubled by the fact that 
his prayer on this occasion was not heard. Then he dreamed 
that the parents of the child kept in concealment ancestor idols, 
and that his prayer was thereby hindered. 

“The day had scarcely dawned when he ran to the parents 
and demanded of them, ‘ Where are the idols you have hidden? 
Out with them! They make my prayer of no effect.’ Terrified, 
the people produced the idols. After they were removed, he 
prayed again, and in a short time the child was well. 

“At a later period, when the growing Christian community 
had become a living proof of the divine truth, the striking 
signs fell once more into the background, a fact which Ama 
Gahonoa found to be quite usual.” 


FROM THE BONDAGE OF OPIUM 

Too many stories are told in China of deliverance, straight 
out, by prayer, from the bondage of the opium habit to admit 
of giving place to them. The same is true of deliverance from 
the cocaine habit among the Indians of Peru, who chew the 
coca leaf from infancy. However, as an example of such 
experiences, let this story be told from Mrs. Taylor’s “ Pastor 
Hsi.”’ Soon after his conversion, Hsi (pronounced Shee) had 
established a refuge for victims seeking release from the opium 
habit. Formerly he had grown the poppy and produced much 
opium on his estate, and now, having left estate and all for 
Christ, he felt that he owed it to his fellow men to help them 
gain freedom from the drug. Here is one experience: 

“On one occasion, for example, three men came together 
from a neighboring village, begging to be taken into the Refuge. 
Hsi was there at the time, as it happened, and was doubtful 
about receiving them on account of age. They were all ad- 
vanced in years, the youngest being over sixty, and were opium 
smokers of long standing. But they were so eager to be cured 


that finally they were admitted, the principles of the Refuge 
haying been made especially plain. 


296 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


“For the first day or two all went well, and the old men 
became much interested in the gospel. But by the third evening 
one of them was feeling desperate, and during the night he 
called the others, begging them to rouse Hsi or Fan, and get 
something to relieve his agony. 

“Why should we wait for that?’ cried his friends. ‘It is 
not medicine you need. Kneel down, and let us pray.’ 

“Only a poor cave-room in that little village, far away in 
the heart of China, and three old men kneeling alone at mid- 
night. Was He there, that wonderful Saviour? Would He 
respond with ready succor as of old? 

“Tremblingly the cry went up in the darkness: ‘O Jesus, 
help me! Save me! Save me now!’ 

“A few minutes later the sufferer was lying quietly wrapped 
in his wadded coverlet again. His groans ceased. His distress 
passed away. And in a little while he was fast asleep. 

““Jesus truly is here,’ whispered the others. And they 
too slept till morning. 

“Then bright and early they were up, eager to tell their 
story, and with smiling faces accosted every one they met: 

“*True? Why, of course it’s true! We know all about it. 
Your Jesus does indeed hear and answer prayer.’ 

“They were overflowingly happy, with a joy and confidence 
that proved contagious. And faith in many hearts was strength- 
ened. For such testimony cannot be gainsaid.” 


MEETING THE INFIDEL CHALLENGE 

This is a story of city missions. The incident was re- 
ported by Evangelist R. S. Fries, holding a mission in one of 
the great cities of America. The narrative may be published 
now without reserve, as the woman whose faith God so won- 
derfully met is now dead. 

Evangelist Fries said that while conducting a mission in a 
Western city, he became acquainted with a woman whose heart 
turned to God in the meetings. She earned her livelihood by 
keeping a small shop. He continued: 

“ About this time she became acquainted with a man who 
finally asked her to marry him. He seemed in every way a 


true man, and expressed interest and sympathy with her newly 
revived religious experience. She accepted him and they were 


HEALING AS A SIGN 297 


married. But very soon after the marriage she found that his 
religious interests had been only simulated in order to win her 
’ heart. He showed no interest whatever in religion, and had no 
sympathy with her in her desire to follow Christ. Disheartened 
and discouraged by this discovery, she felt that truly she had 
made a mistake. 

“So keenly did she feel this that she counted herself un- 
worthy to meet with us. She ceased attending the meetings. 
However, she had learned enough of God so that she clung to 
her Saviour and to her faith in God. As time passed, the 
husband became more and more bitter, and she found him an 
avowed infidel. Hard experiences came to her. The husband 
seemed infuriated by her effort to hold to her faith in God; 
especially was he furious if he found her praying. 

“For years she had been afflicted with disease of the bones 
in the right shoulder, causing partial paralysis of her arm. 
Her arm was rigid, and she was able to lift it upward but a 
few inches. One day the husband came in and found her on 
her knees praying to God. He stormed and denounced her. 
He ridiculed her, and told her it was of no use to pray. ‘If 
there is a God and He answers prayer, why doesn’t He heal 
your arm?’ 

“There upon her knees she was moved, evidently by the 
Spirit of God, to accept the infidel challenge. She declared her 
faith in God, and said to her husband, ‘ Would you believe that 
there is a God if He gave me strength to lift this arm up and 
turn on the light above my head?’ ‘ Yes,’ he said, ‘I would,’ 
for he well knew that she had not been able to lift that hand 
even to her head. With her heart lifted to God in prayer the 
woman felt strength and life coming into the arm withered 
almost to the shoulder. She prayed again, and rising from her 
knees, she reached up to the chandelier above her head and 
turned on the electric light. The husband seemed driven out 
of his mind in his fury. He even sought her life, the attempt 
landing him in the hands of the authorities, so that he was 
confined in jail for some time. Out of this experience with 
God the woman renewed her consecration, and began again to 
attend our meetings. Some time later she united with our 
church.” 


Several years later, meeting Evangelist Fries, I said, “ What 


about the experience of that woman who answered the challenge 
of the infidel husband?” 


298 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


‘She maintained her faith and Christian experience,” was 
the answer, “and only recently died fully trusting in God.” 
“And what about that withered arm?” 
‘“ She had the use of that arm until the day of her death,” 
was the reply. 
DIVINE ASSURANCE 


An African girl, student in one of our mission schools of 
East Africa, was fortified by a dream to resist the village tra- 





Nurse Southgate at Work in Nyasaland, Africa 


ditions and to call for prayer for her healing. Her people were 
furious over her refusal to let the witch doctors in. A visitor 
to the field, Pastor L. H. Christian, tells how faith triumphed: 


“Later, one of our Christian native teachers went there to 
visit his students, and she called for him. She said, ‘ Place your 
hand here on my chest, and pray. I have had a dream that you 
would come, pray, and heal me.’ A bit reluctant, the teacher 
did as she asked. The natives all knelt with him, and asked 
God to help her, and almost immediately she was well.” 


Stories of Children 


“ Take heed that ye despise not one of these little 
ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their 
angels do always behold the face of My Father 
which 1s in heaven.’ Matthew 18:10. 


A BABY’S WAKEFUL HOURS 


A PERSIAN monarch’s restless night in days of old led to 
the searching of the records, and finally to the issuing of a 
decree for the deliverance of the people of God. In the mis- 
sionary annals of India is the story of an infant’s restless night 
which was turned to the deliverance of the family. Even the 
missionary’s heathen servants declared that it surely was the 
hand of Providence. 

Before telling the story, it should be recalled that the white 
ants of India are a great scourge. They attack the woodwork 
about a house, perhaps eating unperceived, inside a beam, until 
it may be hollowed out and seriously weakened. Mr. Thomas 
Evans, in “ A Welshman in India,” wrote: 


“One night the baby was very restless and would not sleep; 
she did not seem to be in pain, but try all we could she would 
not rest. I dozed off, and about two in the morning my wife, 
who was sitting up with the baby, woke me, and said there 
was a noise in the roof. I looked up, and said it was nothing, 
and went to sleep again. 

“ But baby would not rest. Again my wife roused me, and 
said there was a noise overhead. I looked up, and saw the beam 
bent in the middle as if about to fall. 

“JT sprang out of bed and took my wife and baby into the 
next room, where the baby soon fell asleep. I called the serv- 
ants to help me move the furniture, and just as the carpet 
was being taken out, down came the roof with a fearful crash. 

“The huge beam fell first, immediately over the spot where 
our bed had been, and the whole room was full of broken 
masonry and timber. One of the bricks would have been 
sufficient to kill any one of us. 

299 


300 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


“Our heathen servants fell at our feet and said, ‘ Your 
God must be great to deliver you in such a wonderful manner.’ 

“VYesiy truly satewes 
He, and He only, who 
delivered us from such a 
death, by means of our 
little babe. When the roof 
fell in, I felt as if I were 
on the verge of eternity, 
and had looked over and 
stepped back again.” 


ANSWER TO THE INDIAN 
GIRL’S PRAYER 


We of the West can 
scarcely appreciate the 
moral bravery as well as 
the physical pluckiness re- 
quired on the part of a 
young girl of India to 
break away from home 
and traditions and people 
in order to follow the way 
of Christ. In the mission 
records of India is the 
story of one young, girl 
whose name translated 
means “ Six-faced,” who 
was led into the right way 
by a Christian Indian wo- 
man whose name trans- 
lated means “ Pearl-shell.”’ 
The story is preserved by Andrew Stewart, in his book, “ Out 
of Darkness: ”’ 





An Indian Christian Girl 


“A little girl, Six-faced by name, had heard the gospel in 
an open-air meeting. She came to Miss Carmichael, desirous 
to join the Christian way. As she was so very young, and could 
know little of the serious step she proposed to take, she was 
sent home. 


STORIES OF CHILDREN 301 


“She was shockingly punished by her relatives for having 
expressed a desire to join the Way, and was sent to the care of 
an uncle in the town where Pearl-shell had gone to reside. 

“Her uncle treated her cruelly. As he beat her, he was 
heard to say, ‘This is for daring to join the Way.’ 

“She was closely watched during the three years she was 
there, lest she might attempt to escape. She had heard the 
gospel only once, and only once had heard a Christian offer 








A Girls’ Sehool of Calcutta, India 


prayer. She made up her mind to pray, and this was her first 
prayer, ‘Keep my uncle from beating me.’ Never again did 
he beat her. 

“As the day of a proposed marriage for her was drawing 
near, she prayed: “Jesus, O Jesus, stop it! Do not let: me 
be tied.’ 

“The marriage arrangements fell through. She had found 
that the Christ heard and answered her simple, trusting prayers. 

“Having been told the story of Six-faced, Pearl-shell de- 
termined to rescue her. With the childlike faith that had been 
hers since the day of her emancipation, she prayed for guidance 
in so difficult a matter. 

“One day while she prayed she believed that she was told 
to go to a certain stream, where the girl was sent to bathe, and 
an opportunity would be given her to bring the child away, and 
the eyes of the people around would be kept from seeing them. 
How could she, an ignorant woman, dare to do such a thing? 
She did it. 

‘* She went to the stream, found Six-faced there, and had 
a chance to speak a word alone with her. The child in utmost 


302 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


simplicity believed, as Pearl-shell told her, that God would work 
a miracle and ‘ blind the eyes’ of the people they must certainly 
meet. Together these two simple, confiding souls, in the keep- 
ing and in the fellowship of Christ, walked through the streets 
of the town and out to the village three miles distant, where 
the missionary lived. They reached it without any one taking 
notice of them, and were accorded a glad welcome and ail the 
protection they required.” 


THE BABY AND THE KAREN ROBBER 


This is a story from the Karen hills of Burma. It is told 
by Alonzo Bunker, of the American Baptist Mission, in his 
book, “ Sketches from the Karen Hills: ” 


“Our youngest child was about six months old, and she had 
formed the habit of awaking about one or two o’clock at night 
for a drink of water. So habitual was this that her mother was 
accustomed to place a glass of water on a stand by her bed. 
The servant was also requested to fill the earthen cooler on the 
sideboard overy day, and this he usually did. 

“On the night in question the child awoke as usual, but by 
some oversight the glass of water was absent. I was asked to 
go to the cooler on the sideboard to supply the lack. There 
also I found no water. This was a surprise, and necessitated 
my going around the house on the veranda (we lived on the 
second story) toa filter. It was light enough to see clearly all 
objects near at hand. At the back of the house an ell projected, 
which was used for a bathroom. All the windows of the house 
were protected by wooden shutters, which we carefully barred 
at night. 

“As I stooped to dip water from the filter, I happened (if 
anything happens by chance) to look across to the window in 
the ell, which I had barred that night. There I saw a Burman, 
stark naked, hanging across the window sill, with knife in 
hand, on the point of entering. 

“ He had pried open the window in some way, and the whole 
house was open to his will. It was, of course, impossible to 
know how many accomplices he might have. There was nothing 
to hinder him and his fellows, if he had any, from reaching every 
room in the house. Only this discovery at the crucial moment, 
occasioned by the circumstances above narrated, enabled us to 
defend our house and family. 


STORIES OF CHILDREN 303 


“ This providential interposition in our behalf made a strong 
impression upon our hearts in all subsequent years. If it can 
be proved that God watches over His children carefully at all 
times, what rest should come to the faith of those who trust in 
Him! We could not, in considering the events of that night, 
doubt that a loving intelligence had truly interposed for our 
mrovection. ./:. . 

“First, the awakening of the child at the fixed time; second, 
the forgetting to place the water on the stand as usual; third, 





A Cottage in Burma 


the failure of the servant to put water in the cooler, and hence 
the necessity of going to the filter on the back veranda; and these 
all so timed as to bring me to the danger spot just when needed. 
A minute earlier or later, and the robber would not have been 
discovered. Such a combination of events argued beyond 
reasonable doubt that a wise and benevolent mind had our 
welfare in charge.” 


YET ANOTHER WAKEFUL CHILD 


The hour of the great earthquake in Tokio, Japan, just 
before noon on that fateful day in 1923, was the hour when 
a certain mite of a baby in a missionary home near Tokio was 
accustomed to take her nap. Regularly as a clock, almost, the 
baby was sleeping in her cot just before noon. On that day, 


304 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


however, the mother toiled in vain to persuade the child into 
sleep. The baby would have nothing to do with sleep. At last, 
giving up the task as hopeless, Mother Armstrong took the 
little one with her to the Sabbath morning service. 

Then the earthquake came. And when Pastor and Mrs. 
Armstrong returned to their home across the compound, they 





Earthquake Ruins of Homes in Tokio 


found the chimney had fallen, crashing through the roof; and 
the baby’s crib, in its accustomed place for the baby’s morning 
nap hour, was crushed to the floor beneath the bricks from the 
fallen chimney. 

That morning the parents thanked God that the baby, under 
providential care, had refused to take its regular nap. 


THE AFRICAN LAD’S ESCAPE 


In the region of Usumbara, East Africa, a young witness 
for God had truly a providential escape from death that had 
been planned by the witch doctor to silence his testimony. The 
witch doctor was the chief Kimueri. He was believed to have 


STORIES OF CHILDREN 305 


power to make rain and to control generally the hidden forces 
of nature. Near his village lived a Christian blacksmith and 
his son Silas, nine years of age. The story is told in Stewart’s 
meoit of Darkness::) 


“One morning while 
Silas sat just within the 
door, he was startled by 
the sound of the chief’s 
horn. He set off in haste 
to the village to learn the 
cause. His father warned 
him not to stray far away, 
lest he fall into the hands 
of the cruel robbers, the 
Masai. 

Phavine soreacied 
Wuga, he found that the 
chiefs of Dule and Handei 
had arrived, and _ other 
chiefs were expected 
shortly. They were com- 
manded to plead with 
Kimueri to bring the rain. 
Kipingu (also son of a 
blacksmith) belonged to 
the village, and was a play- 
mate of Silas. He began 
to speak of the greatness 
of their chief, who could 
SO) easily command the © “the earthquake to and out avout the dena” 
rain, when Silas spoke up, 

“* Only God can make rain. My father told me SO.’ 

“*O, Kimueri can do everything that God can,’ replied 
the other. 

“ “God is greater than Kimueri,’ persisted Silas. 

“ “No; Kimueri is greatest.’ 

“““No; God is greater than any one.’ 

“While they thus argued, they were startled to notice the 
chief himself standing close by. They knew that he had heard 
their words, and Silas knew that he was angry. Kimueri would 
gladly have killed him on the spot, but he felt it would be 


20 





Bessie 


306 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


beneath the dignity of so great a chief to do so; but killed he 
must be. 3 

“He asked the boys to accompany him to his royal hut. 
There he presented Kipingu with a blue shirt and a blue cap, 
and to Silas he gave a white shirt and a white cap. When they 
had donned their much appreciated gifts, he gave them a bottle 
of medicine to carry to the neighboring chief of Bumbali, and 
counseled them to return quickly. 

“The boys set off in great glee. Meanwhile he had com- 
manded three of his slaves to overtake them, and while un- 
observed, to kill the wearer of the white shirt and cap. This 
was quickly accomplished. Meantime Kimueri was with Ki- 
pingu’s father in his hut. At sunset a frightened cry was heard 
in the village, ‘The Masai are upon us!’ A terrified little boy 
in a blue shirt ran for protection to the blacksmith’s hut. 

“ Kimueri, recognizing Silas, asked in an anxious voice, 
‘Where is your white shirt and cap?’ 

““T exchanged with Kipingu.’ 

““ But where is Kipingu?’ 

“* The robbers have killed him; but I ran on here as quickly 
as I could.’ 

“The chief had been outwitted, all unconsciously, by the 
boys —or shall we say by the God behind the boy who had 
acknowledged His power ? 

“The story of the chief’s treachery leaked out, and the 
sympathies of the people went against him. They said that 
the God whom Silas honored, had honored the boy and saved 
his life.” 


NAW PAW-GAY AND THE TIGER 


In his “Sketches from the Karen Hills,’ Dr. Bunker, of 
the Baptist Mission, tells how a little Karen girl stooped over 
to draw water just at the second when stooping over saved her 
life. Here is the story: 


“Many instances arise in missionary experience to show 
that God exercises His providential care over heathen children 
as well as over those of Christian birth. The following incident 
is given to illustrate this fact: 

“In a village perched on a mountain side far away in the 
jungle, a teacher had begun his-work of preaching the gospel. 
Down the mountain side was a spring which supplied the village 


STORIES OF CHILDREN 307 


with water. According to the usual custom, the young children 
collected the wood and brought the water for family use. 

“One of the elders of the village had discovered tracks of 
some wild animals around this spring, and with visions of a 
venison dinner, he had planted bamboo spikes about it. This 
act was called ‘do-mer’ (spike-planting). The spikes were 
made of the toughest part of the bamboo, were about four feet 
long, the points sharpened and made hard in fire, and made a 
very formidable weapon for attack or defense. 

“One morning Naw Paw-Gay, five or six years old, took 
her bamboo for water. It was longer than herself. She put 
the strap across her forehead, and trotted down the hill to get 
the water for the morning rice. As she stooped to dip the 
bamboo into the spring, a dark shadow fell upon her and a 
rushing sound passed over her. 

“Instantly she awoke to her peril, as, looking up, she saw 
a frightful beast. It was a man-eating tiger which had secreted 
itself in the grass near the spring to watch for its breakfast. 
The moment the little girl stooped to dip up the water, the 
tiger sprang for her head. Missing it, he went over her and 
fell upon the spikes and was securely impaled upon them. Her 
terrified screams quickly brought the villagers to her rescue, 
and they shortly dispatched the tiger. 

+ Henceforth the name of Naw Paw-Gay was changed to 
Ke Roy-Po, or ‘the tiger-child.’. The skeptic may call this an 
accident ; but the believer in God’s loving care will regard it 
as a special interposition of Providence.” 





Painting by Anton Dietrich 


*“* PEACE, BE STILL ” 


“What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him? ” 
Mark 4: 41. 


308 


Amidst the Convulsions of Nature 


“God ts our refuge and strength, a very present 
help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, 
though the earth be removed, and though the 
mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; 
though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, 
though the mountains shake with the swelling 


thereof.’ Psalms 46: 1-3. 


FOREWARNED 
On the night of a destructive earthquake in Central Amer- 
ica, a missionary family had an experience of God’s watchful 
care. The wife was at home that night, the husband, Secretary 
Bodle, of the Seventh-day Adventist Mission, being away from 
the city on tour. The missionary wife, keeping watch and 
ward at home, tells the story as follows: 


“Tt seemed that God took care of us in a wonderful way. 
I had such a feeling come over me about nine o’clock in the 
evening. I was alone with my boy and another little boy about 
twelve years old. I could not shake off the impression of dan- 
ger; so I awoke the boys and had them dress, got food and 
bedding ready, and we waited indoors ready to run to the back 
yard. I asked the Lord to give me some help, and picked up 
our church paper, the Review and Herald. On the back page 
was an article, “Present Help in Trouble.’ It was so encourag- 
ing. One expression was, ‘ Whatever comes this night, know 
that God is a present help. So we prayed and committed our- 
selves into God’s hand. 

“We sat there until 12:30, midnight, and nothing hap- 
pened; so I pulled the cot up by the door, and told the boys 
to lie down. We were all ready, and only a few feet from 
safety in the back yard. They had just fallen asleep, when at 
a quarter of one came the crash. No words can describe the 
terrible roar underground, buildings falling, and screams of 
those buried under them. It was pitch dark, and we sat in our 
back yard until morning, glad we had our bedding, as it was 
cold. The ground shook almost constantly until ten o’clock 


309 


310 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


next morning. But someway [I was most wonderfully sus- 
tained all night. 

‘“T was so thankful that we were ready. A great mass of 
mud came down where the boy had slept before, and he might 
have been killed if we had not been warned beforehand.” 


THE DELIVERANCE OF HILO 

In one of her travel books, Miss C. F. Gordon Cumming, 
the English woman traveler and writer, told the story of the 
deliverance of Hilo, one of the towns of the Hawaiian Islands, 
during the great eruption of 1855. She told the story after 
interviews with the late Titus Coan, the pioneer missionary, 
and with other old residents. It should be remembered that 
Miss Cumming was not writing of missions and missionaries, 
but speaking as a traveler describing the lands visited. The 
following is quoted from Volume I of her book, “ Fire Foun- 
tails 


“In August, 1855, there occurred the most awful eruption 
on record. It commenced near the summit of Mauna Loa; and 
you can easily understand that when a flood of liquid rock boils 
over its mighty caldron at so tremendous a height as 14,000 
feet above the sea, the position of persons living at the base of 
the mountain is not one of enviable security. 

“In the present instance it overflowed in a stream of suffi- 
cient volume to overwhelm the whole town and harbor. In some 
places it was three miles wide; then finding more level ground, 
it expanded into lakes from five to eight miles broad; then 
parting, it formed a network of rivers, burning their way 
Unirquel thentorestysmese 

“For six months this lava flow advanced steadily toward 
Hilo. Day by day parties went up from the town to report on 
its progress, anxiously scanning its approach to such ravines 
and valleys as would have offered a natural seaward channel. 

“Great was the alarm of all when it was found that the 
overwhelming flood had arrived within six miles of the town, 
and that there was apparently nothing in the nature of the 
ground to check its steady onward progress straight to the sea. 

“Then all the people assembled in the churches to humble 
themselves exceedingly before the Lord of the universe, entreat- 
ing Him that He would be pleased to turn away His terrible 


AMIDST THE CONVULSIONS OF NATURE 311 


river of fire, and preserve the homes of His people. You may 
well believe there were no half-hearted, sleepy worshipers in 
those congregations, but all with one voice united in such true 
and earnest prayers as are never offered in vain. 

“ That cry for help and protection was heard in heaven, and 
answered speedily. At the very moment when danger seemed 
most imminent, and it appeared as if nothing could avert the 
destruction of the town, the danger was most literally turned 
aside. The course of the river was unaccountably diverted; the 
stream divided, and flowed to the right and to the left; and 
though the great roaring furnace on the mount continued in full 
blast for twelve months more, not one foot nearer to the town 
did the flood come. It gushed out laterally in streams sixty 
miles in length, depositing millions of tons of lava along its 
track, and covering nearly three hundred square miles of land.”’ 


Again in 1880 and 1881 the fiery stream was pouring down 
toward the city. Miss Cumming in her second volume tells 
the story as she gathered it from eyewitnesses: 


“That man’s extremity is God’s opportunity is an old saying, 
yet ever new, and here it was once more proved. For when the 
people of Hilo had almost given up hope, they appointed a 
solemn day of humiliation on which they assembled together, 
that all might with one voice upraise the prayer which had for 
months been ascending from many a heart and many a house- 
hold, though its answer had been so long delayed. But now all 
agreed to meet and plead that if it so pleased the Lord, their 
homes might be spared. All places of business were closed, 
and crowded services were held at morning, noon, and evening 
ithe churches: .. 

“Even the stranger within their gates joined in that solemn 
act of worship; for the Chinamen, who had burned their joss 
sticks and made offerings to the fire demons all in vain, came 
in a body to attend the evening service at the Hawaiian church, 
that they might test the power of the Christian’s God. 

“We may leave it to those materialists who deny the over- 
ruling hand of the Creator in the wonderful working of the great 
forces of nature, to search out purely natural causes for the 
strange coincidence that, from that very hour, the fire flood was 
stayed. The stream, which for nine long months had been 
steadily moving seaward, suddenly stood still, and thenceforth 
did not advance one foot. There it now remains, an abiding 


O12 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


monument of the appalling danger and of the miraculous 
deliverance.” 

It should be understood that the volcanic fountain above 
kept pouring forth its flood for days still, but unaccountably, 
otherwise than by the good hand of Providence, the lava stream 
kept piling up as a barrier in front, holding back the fresh flow 
of the molten stream behind it. 


THE WATERS STAYED 
One of the veteran missionaries of the East Indies, Chaplain 
R. W. Munson, some years since retired from the foreign field, 
wrote of a deliverance that came to an island mission in the 
East Indies. His account was published in the Youth's In- 
structor, of Washington, D. C. Here it is, slightly abbreviated : 


“Skeptics and unbelievers generally discredit the stories 
narrated in the Bible which represent that miracles were wrought 
in the deliverance of God’s chosen people in ancient times. 
Particularly the crossing of the Red Sea by Israel in their flight 
from Egypt is marked for criticism. No sane man, say they, 
can accept that story as authentic; but here is one verified by 
people now living who either themselves or their parents passed 
through this experience. 

“Tt happened in the Sangir group of islands that lies be- 
tween the Celebes and the island of Mindanao in the Philippine 
group. The missionary, whose name I have forgotten, was 
fortunate in having entered that field before the missionaries 
of Islam, or Mohammedanism, went there. They came later, 
and succeeded in winning over the sultan and his court. 

“By way of explanation, I should say that this group lies 
directly in the volcanic belt, or ‘line of fire,’ as Sir Alfred 
Wallace called it, that starts in Sumatra and runs through Java 
and the islands that lie to the east of Java, northward through 
the Celebes, then through the Sangir group, through the Philip- 
pines, and finally terminates in Japan. 

“The missionary had labored for a long time among a 
people who were most accessible to missionary influence,— raw 
heathen, Bishop Thoburn of India would call them,— and had 
gathered out a church of about one hundred fifty members. 
A church had been built, and a mission home, both of which 
stood on a rise of ground in the farther end of the town from 


AMIDST THE CONVULSIONS OF NATURE 313 


the sultan’s palace, if the rude, palm-thatched structure in 
which he lived could be called by so noble a name. There had 
been some signs of activity in the old volcano that lay just 
across the mile-wide strait that separates the main island from 
the one on which the volcano stands. There had also been 
signs.of persecution emanating from the ‘palace,’ incited by 
the Mohammedan emissaries, who wielded a great influence 
over the mind of the sultan. Trouble was feared, and it was 
significant that trouble from two quarters at the same time 
seemed about to burst upon the devoted band of Christians. 

“Finally, the volcanic disturbance, accompanied by agita- 
tion of the earth’s crust, as is often the case, so alarmed the 
Christian community that they fled to the missionary’s home 
and person for the protection which they felt that he could 
afford them. Nor was their confidence misplaced. 

“As they all stood in front of the church, gazing at the 
belching volcano, they suddenly beheld the volcano ‘ blow its 
head off,’ and a large part of the summit of the mountain was 
lifted by the tremendous internal force and slid right down 
into the straits. The displacement of the water of the straits 
that inevitably took place, created a tidal wave many feet high, 
which swept straight on to the village where the church and 
mission home and group of Christians stood. They saw it 
coming, and knew well what it meant if God, the Almighty One, 
did not avert the calamity. They all involuntarily fell upon 
their knees or faces, and cried to God to save them. And save 
them He surely did in a most marvelous manner. 

“As the wave advanced, it swept everything before it, 
including the sultan’s palace and all in it and around it, as 
well as the entire village. When the water reached the mission 
compound, it stopped at a certain point, and ran around the 
property on both sides, as if checked by a wall of invisible glass. 
The water found its level by escaping out to sea at both ends 
of the straits, leaving the mission compound, and all within it, 
dry and unhurt by the wave. No one was injured, and all were 
profoundly impressed by the fact of God’s presence there to 
deliver His people that believed in Him. 

“ The son of the missionary, who was just a lad at the time 
when this happened, said that they could see the sharks and 
fishes swimming in the piled-up water as one would behold 
them in an aquarium. They were deeply solemnized by this 
experience. 


314 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


“I got this wonderful story from Alfred Lea, agent of the 
British and Foreign Bible Society as far back as 1888. He had 
visited the island group, met the old missionary, and got the 
story first-hand from him. Mr. Lea said that he went out and 
examined the traces that still remained of the elevation to which 
the tidal wave rose, as clearly marked high up on the hillside, 
and it impressed him as very few incidents of his life had 
ever done. 

“IT questioned an Ambonese Christian whom I met in 
Batavia, Java, in 1911, and he made it very clear that the story 
was true. The water of the straits was stayed from overwhelm- 
ing the Christians, just as the waters of the Red Sea could not 
overwhelm the Israelites. But it did overwhelm the enemies 
of the truth, as the waters overwhelmed the armies of Pharaoh 
in the Red Sea. 

“Tn ancient times God said, “ Touch not Mine anointed, and 
do My prophets no harm.’ He still has a care for His ambas- 
sadors who go out to the ends of the earth with the gospel 
message.” 


Just the Same 


As when He stilled the tempest on the storm-tossed sea, 
As when to His disciples over Galilee, 

The Saviour still is watching, blessed be His name! 

On the sea or in the tempest, He is just the same. 


As when He rose triumphant, nevermore to die, 
O’er sin and death victorious, to His home on high, 
He is ruling now in heav’n, blessed be His name! 
Our King and Lord forever, He is just the same. 


—W.C. Poole. 


Index 


Abyssinia, medical work in, 292. 

“* Accidents,’ deterred by series of, 77. 

Africa, beginning of missions in, 106. 

African girl healed, 298. 

African lad’s escape, 304. 

Agra, deliverance of Indian preacher 
at, 165. 

Akamba, raid of, on missionaries, 91, 92. 

“ All the power went from me,’’ 261. 

Ama Gahonoa, prayers of, 294. 

Amazon country, mission established in, 
205. 

Ammunition taken to mission, enemies 
see, 170. 

Andean wilds, in the, 169. 

Angel’s guardian, 60; fear of, on perse- 
cutors, 172; preparing hearts for the 
message, 142. 

Angel’s presence, was it? 54. 

Ang, Dr., captured by bandits, 51. 

Animistic people, dreams of, 133. 

Answer for hour of need, 176. 

“ Answered Prayer,” 123. 

Apple orchard, tithing the, 286. 

Arab brigand, 261. 

Argentina, grain stolen from Protes- 
tants in, 115. 

Armenian girl hidden from searchers, 
257. 

Assassins pass as he turns aside to 
pray, 161. 

Attackers call for protection, 167. 

““ At the presence of the Lord,’’ 212. 

Attorneys defended young women in 
court, 181. 

Australia, experience of Mother Snape, 
48; of a business man, 49; home 
saved from bush fire in, 215. 

Babe’s wakefulness saves family, 299. 

Baby and Karen robber, 302. 

Baby, wakeful, in Tokio earthquake, 
308. 

Baharian, Z. G., attacked by mobs, 72. 

Baker, John, in peril by robbers, 157. 

Bandits, rescued from, 95. 

Baptism, persecution at, 205. 

Baralong and Zulu war, 40. 

Barren tree dedicated to God, 271. 

Battak Mission, 12, 134. 

Beasts, savage, restrained, 187. 

Bechuanas, Robert Moffat among, 71. 

Bengali farmer’s search for truth, 145. 

Bengali fisherman, 278. 

Beyond human range, 14. 

Bible, resentment of spirits toward, 251. 

Bible, their mother’s, 204. 

Bible unburned, 80. 

Bible woman in Hungarian village, 140; 
in Szechwan, 40. 

Bible, woman sent to hotel to find, 38. 

Big Nambus, 267. 

Bird gave warning, 190. 

“ Bless this harvest,’’ 276. 

Blind man finds car door fast, 58. 

Blowing of the south wind, 218. 

Blows restrained, 79. 

Boat, ‘‘ fourth ’” man in, 57. 


Bodle, Mrs., in earthquake, 309. 

Bolivian soldiers, rescue by, 197. 

Bombas, saved by Indian’s dream, 139. 

Bond, F., in Spain, flight of mob, 170; 
life threatened, 257. 

Bond, Mrs. F., passenger proves a pro- 
tector, 194. 

Books, judge orders priests to buy, 177. 

Borneo wilds, friend or enemy in, 63. 

Borrow, George, in peril on journey, 
155. 

Borrowdale, L. J., on dangerous river, 


Bose, Kheroda, becomes a nurse, 125. 

Bose, Mathuranath, 938. 

Bottle, finding missionary tract in, 228. 

Box washed ashore, with letter sanc- 
tioning mission, 222. 

Boxer uprising, 82, 84, 247; deliverance 
inwmecoarral ae 

Brazil, deliverance from plot in, 50. 

Brazilian pasture, prayer in, 188. 

Brees, Christian, attacks of chief on, 
178. 

Brick burning on Sabbath, 272. 

Broadbent, Samuel, in South Africa, 40. 

Brown, G., experiences with Kafirs, 255. 

Buddhist woman’s dream, 134. 

Buffalo cow made gentle, 186. 

Bull, woman colporteur protected from, 
188; canvasser protected from, 188. 

Bullocks, finding the lost, 102. 

Bushmen on Malekula, work among, 80. 

Caleutta, Hindu finds Christ in, 129. 

Campa Indians help Elder Stahl on his 
journey, 196. 

Cancer on face healed by prayer, 293. 

Cannibals, held back, 74; Christian 
Fijians saved from, 204. 

Canoemen, extra, 196. 

Caravan saved by friendly warning, 193. 

Carey, W., how he reached India, 18. 

Carlists, G. Borrow in peril of, 155. 

Carmichael, Miss, and Indian girl, 300. 

Cart turned over, 106. 

Caterpillars, crops saved from, 281. 

Cato, African chief, raid of, 91. 

Cattle killed by lightning, 95. 

Cawnpore massacre, singing after, 166. 

Chalmers, James, voice of God to, 33. 

Chalmers, Mrs. James, among canni- 
bals, 74. 

Chefoo cook, 117. 

Chief, summons to, 35. 

Child wife in India, 125. 

elas captured to prove God lives, 
178. 

Children, priest threatens to take from 
parents, 79; stone missionary’s home, 
195; persecuted, 205. 

Chinese chapel saved from fires, 220; 
evangelist impressed to wait, 156; 
farmer and the colporteur, 137; girl’s 
surrender, 141; heart prepared, 136; 
magistrate’s impulse, 161; pastor’s 
experience with fires, 219; woman’s 
conversion, 39. 


ola 


316 


Chit Hla and the dentist, 142. 

Christ, led to, by recovery of child, 135. 

Cocaine habit, deliverance from, 295. 

Coillard, Francois, in Rhodesia, 69. 

Colporteur, Swedish, bread given to, 67; 
in Australia, woman calls husband to 
see, 181; saved from assassins, 162. 

Colporteurs protected from blows, 79; 
singing in prison, 175. 

Comfort, a message of, in East Bengal, 
274. 

Communists, colporteurs accused of be- 
ing, 175. ; 

Condemned, but delivered, 88. 

Conference, getting means to attend, 
278. 

Constable’s son delivered by prayer, 182. 

Constantinople, testimony from, 283. 

“Could not find me,’’ 257. 

Crawford, Mrs. Mattie, 120. 

Cruz, Juan, bandits could not rob, 1538. 

Cry at midnight, the, 76. 

Czecho-Slovakia, attempted burning of 
Bible in, 80; experience of colporteur 
IMs) Loo. 

Dahne wrestling with a serpent, 245. 

Damascus, Armenian evangelist in, 258. 

Danger, held back from, 58. 

Darkness, guided out of, 137. 

Deane, story of Moffat’s deliverance, 71. 

Death pit, delivered from, 62. 

Death potion harmless, 242. 

Debt and tithe paying, 271. 

Defenders appear unexpectedly, 181. 

Deliverer, the unknown, 65. 

Demoniac set free, 254. 

Demons, delivered from, 250. 

Denomination, which has most truth, 38. 

Dentist in Burma, dream of, 142. 

Destroyer, protected from, 277. 

Destroyers turned aside, 287. 

Devil possession in China, 251, 254. 

Devourer, rebuking the, 281. 

Dissension, deliverance by, 72. 

Divine assurance, 298. 

Dog, woman colporteur protected from, 
187. 

Dream, leads English woman to our 
meetings, 59; of Buddhist woman, 
134; of Australian woman, 137; of 
Indian saves bishop, 139; of old Ben- 
gali man, 146; of tree and ‘7,’’ by 
Korean, 147; bears fruit, 147; of 
Ukrainian farmer, 148; woman 
warned against witchcraft by, 244. 

Dreams, God works through, 133; of 
villagers in Siberia, 144; of Tschoog, 
message in, 233. 

Drum beating for worship forbidden, 
266. 

Drunkard’s taste changed, 49. 

Earthquake, forewarning of, 809. 

East India Company, 20. 

East Indian incidents, 294. 

Eclipse, saved from bandits by, 95. 

Egede, missionary to Greenland, 17. 

English woman directed to Seventh-day 
Adventists by voice, 36-38. 

Erromanga, martyr of, 167. 

Error in the register, 259. 

Eskimos, Bombas saved from, 139. 


MIRACLES OF MODERN. MISSIONS 


Europe, persecution in, 95. 

Evil spirits, wrestling with, 251. 
Eyes were held, his, 257. 

Fare, how money came for, 120. 
Farmer in China, dream of, 137. 
Fiji, two families in peril on, 76. 


_ Fijians, escape from enemies, 204. 


Filipino opposer turned, 144. 

Finger of God, the, 12. 

Firearms, missionaries do not trust in, 
262s 

Fire from benzine on ship, 30. 

Fire, plunging through to safety, 231. 

Fire, village saved from, 218. 

Fisherman, in debt, pays tithes, 272. 

Flogging, minister delivered from, 50. 

Flour, the bag of, 118. 

Ford, Orley, delivered from ambush, 77. 

Forder, Archibald, and the brigand, 261. 

Forewarned, 309. 

Forest fire, delivered from, 215. 

Forest, loaf in, 67. 

Friendly Islands, permission for mission 
on, 222. 

From Satan to Christ, 147. 

Fury restrained in Turkey, 72. 

Gangrene case healed, 292. 

Gasp, at the last, 99. 

“Get up, and wol’7 bl. 

Glover, A. E., hairbreadth escape of, 
202; in peril in China, 82, 83, 247. 

Glover, Mrs. A. E., deliverance of, 212. 

Glover, Dr. Robert, delivered from high- 
waymen, 160; story of young woman 
and mob, 201. 

“God has brought me to you,’ 125. 

God’s hand not shortened, 146. 

God’s. providence on Malekula, 268. 

Gold chain in bird’s crop, 117. 

Gold piece, Indian and the, 237. 

Gospel light, waiting for, 140. 

Grasshoppers, field protected from, 285. 

Greek who did not dispute, 42; sur- 
render of, 43. 

Greeks led by voice, 42. 

Greenland, first missionary to, 17. 

Guardian angels (poem), 60. 

Guiana, wrestling with serpent in, 245. 

Guided aright, 117. 

Guiding voice, the, 36. 

Gun that was not fired, 161; that failed 
once, 264. 

Guns, put away, 74; that missed fire, 
263, 267. 

Halt, an unusual, 101. 

Hare, E. B., in Karen hills, 150. 

Harry, ready to be a martyr, 268. 

Heiler, Pastor, 53. 

Hepburn, J. D., in ‘thirst country,” 
104. 

Hidden from their eyes, 255. 

Highwaymen frustrated, 160. 

Hilo, deliverance of, 310. 

Home prayer place, word-picture of, 
229. 

Home saved, 215. 

Horn, Cape, on old route around, 28. 

Horse quiet in attack, 153; runaway, 
189. 

Horsemen sent to rescue, 157. 

Howard, E. P., escapes Indians, 158. 


INDEX 


Howell, W. E., escapes Indians, 158. 

How God speaks to men, 12. 

Hsi, Pastor, of Shansi, 121, 185, 295. 

Hunger year in Germany, 119. 

Hunt and family, in Fiji, 76. 

Tavis, 74. 

Ice wall, breaking the, 17. 

Idol houses demolished in islands, 169. 

Idols burned, 252; restored, sickness 
returns, 290. 

Impressed to wait, 156. 

“In the name of the Lord,’’ 201. 

Indian and the gold piece, 237. 

Indian chief powerless before Wash- 
ington, 241. 

Indian chief’s gun, 262. 

Indian girl, father unable to take from 
mission, 73; answer to prayer of, 300. 

Indian jungle, in the, 185. 

Indian mutiny, incident in, 165. 

Indian of Borneo, 638. 

Indian teacher delivered by series of 
*“ accidents,” 77. 4 

Indians, establishing missions among, 
Zo. sor veera attack EF. A. Stahl: 55: 

Infidel’s challenge, meeting the, 296. 

Irano Huna led to Christianity by 
dream, 134. 

Islanders, result of prayer by, 217. 

mLbMiseast ie) Lam, bound,” Ta. 

““Tt is Jehovah,’’ 204. 

Jamaican woman’s dream, 145. 

James, Colporteur, in Canada, 108. 

James, Ross, in the New Hebrides, 222. 

Japanese inquirer, 40. 

Japanese woman sees strange light, 54. 

Joe and Joel, story of, 80. 

Jones, G. F., 35, 2438. 

Karen captives, 177. 

Karen girl and tiger, 306. 

Karen hills, strangely led in, 150. 

Karen robber frustrated, 302. 

Karen teacher prays for courage, 190. 

Karens delivered from tiger, 191. 

Keh and son saved by eclipse, 95. 

Khukwe, African native, 104. 

Kimueri, Chief, 304. 

Kioto, experience with spirits, 243. 

Kirk, Sir John, in jaws of Hippopota- 
mus, 108. 

Klee Bow bishop, E. B. Hare visits, 150. 

“Knock again,’’ 198. 

Korea, case of spirit possession in, 250. 

Korean woman’s call, 138; becomes an 
evangelist, 139. 

Korean turns from Satan to Christ, 
LATS 

Krishna, farmer refuses to make offer- 
ing to, 276. 

Lava, village saved from, 279. 

Led to the Word by night, 38. 

Led to right place, 59. 

Ledyard, saved from bandits, 264. 

Letsika’s call to service, 140. 

Li, Dora, story of, 39. 

Light, God knows who are praying for, 
60. 

Lightning, delivered by, 95; mission 
protected by, 170. 

Liu prays for rain in Shantung, 94. 

Livingstone saved by an accident, 106. 


317 


Loaf in the forest, the, 67. 

Lobengula, Chief, 69. 

Locusts, crop not touched by, 277, 278; 
experience with, on Cebu, 287. 

Lomai, leader of relief band, 74. 

Lord, the, will provide, 115, 117. 

Lowe, H. W., 292. 

Luciano, an Indian of Peru, 56. 

Luzon, conversion of pastor in, 144. 

Lyth and family, missionaries to Fiji, 
76. 

Malekula Island, 21; the restraining 
hand on, 80; war on, 267. 

fangaia Island, peril of Christians on, 
217: 

fanoa, ready to give his life for Jesus, 
268. 

hiantatees, missionary would not flee 
from, 41. 

Marchisio, Senor, delivered from high- 
waymen, 153. 

Masai, deliverance from, 101, 154, 305. 

Masoula, Chief, attack on Coillard, 69. 

“Master on top, He strong,’’ 21. 

Matabele rebellion, 46. 

Mathews, Basil, 106, 108. 

Matthew 23 used in defense in court, 
180. 

Mauna Loa, eruptions of, 310. 

Mavo, Chief, conversion of, 35. 

Maybee’s home saved from bush fire, 
2 Se 

Medical work saves a mission, 212. 

Medicine man’s baby cured, 288. 

Meeting, not accidental, 129. 

Mershon, L. B., and native with club, 
63. 

Messenger, prepared for, 142. 

““Messenger,’’ built on Pitcairn, 224. 

Met at right time and place, 128. 

Meteorite, 93. 

Mexican revolution, Indian’s house saved 
from rebels, 78; in days of, 153. 

Mias hill tribes, village of, saved from 
fire, 218; traditions of, 219. 

Midnight, cry at, 76. 

Miguel released when church prayed, 
174. 

Minds changed, 205. 

Miser’s offering of flour, 119. 

Mission of comfort, a, 274. 

Mission, providence that founded a, 34. 

Mission in Inca Union, enemies see am- 
munition taken to, 170; see large 
force of men surrounding it, 170; 
protected by lightning, 170. 

Mistake foils persecutor, 162. 

Mob, Mr. Pollard delivered from, 65; 
flight of during prayer, 170; subdued 
by command of young woman, 201. 

Moffat, Robert, autograph of, 71; 
threatened by chief of Bechuanas, 71. 

Mohammedans, what amazed the, 183. 

Mohawk hunter, the young, 235. 

Money, by post, 114; for fare, 120. 

Moravians in Pennsylvania, 231. 

Moslem chiefs, meeting the, 126. 

Mother stoned by mob, drowned, 205. 

Murray, A. W., 28, 245. 

Mutiny, Indian, psalms appropriate to, 
166. 


318 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS 


Mwana Muka, 91. 

““My child, Jesus loves you,” 39. 

Mysterious rescue, a, 55. 

Nairn, story of rescue on Tanna, 74. 

Namakei, Chief, sermon about the well 
on Aniwa, 113. 

Name, delivered by the, 243. 

Nauhaught, story of, 237. 

Naw Paw-Gay and the tiger, 306. 

New birth, the greatest miracle, 54. 

New Guinea, voice of the wilds in, 33; 
James Chalmers finding a mission 
site on, 33; Mrs. Chalmers alone on, 
TA, 

New Hebrides, stories of miracles in, 
80; Paton’s well on, 110. 

Nias, dream of priestess of, 134. 

Nias Mission, 13, 184; reports of heal- 
ing at, 294. 

Nommensen unharmed by poisonous 
food, 242. 

Nussbaum, Dr. J., experiences in med- 
ical school, 259. 

Ocean currents, over the, 227. 

Opium habit, deliverance from, 295. 

Opium refuge, how God provided for, 
P21: 

Oro, idol on Raiatea, burned, 167. 

Parchment, E. E., ride in Jamaica, 145. 

Parkers CG. He26%2 

Partnership with God, 286. 

Passenger, the unexpected, 195. 

Paton, John G., 88, 110, 263. 

Paul, a farmer, and his sacrifice, 277. 

Paul the apostle, in Asia, 72. 

Peden hidden by mist, 90. 

Perene Mission, founding of, 205. 

Peril, sudden, at journey’s end, 25. 

Persecutor foiled by mistake, 162. 

Peter delivered from prison, 173. 

Pitcairn Island, boat building on, 224. 

Poison plot frustrated, 245. 

Poisonous fumes, victory over, 247. 

Pollard, Samuel, delivered from mob, 
65, 218. 

Pomare, Chief, 167. 

Prairie, providential lift on, 108. 

Prayer and the Wakikuyu protector, 
193. 

Prayer, flight of mob during, 170. 

Prayer found the way, 105. 

Prayer in a Brazilian pasture, 188. 

Prayer opens Chinese prison, 181. 

Prayer saves from assassins, 161. 

Prayer, impressed to tell of answers to, 
109. 

Prayers for sick, Wu Tha Tha’s, 291. 

Praying for messengers of Revelation 
14, 131. 

Priest and widow, 79. 

Prison, Chinese, prayer opened, 181. 

Prison, singing hymns in, 175. 

Promise, never left without hearing, 88; 
relying on, 231. 

Protection, attackers call for, 167. 

Protectors in “‘ shining raiment,”’ 53. 

Protestants burned in France, 171. 

Providential meeting in the wild, 2381. 

Radha, a child widow of India, 45. 

Raiatea, deliverance of first Christians 
on, 168. 


Rain, missionaries saved by, 92; prayer 
for, in Shantung, 94. 

Rauch, Christian, 288. 

Ravens, boy opens door for, 123. 

Red Sea crossing doubted by skeptics, 
812, 814. 

Reef, boat lifted over, 222. 

Reekie, a colporteur, and the turned- 
over cart, 105. 

Register, error in the, 259. 

Revelation 14, praying for messengers 
of, 131. 

Rice, double crop of, 284. 

Ride in answer to prayer, 109. 

Rioters prosecuted, 161. 

“Rise, and go! ’’ 45. 

River currents, turning of, 93. 

Road, take the other, 50. 

Robber discovered in getting water, 302. 

Robbers, colporteur delivered from, 154. 

Rodd, A. S., on conversion in North of 
England, 37; woman directed to our 
meetings, 59. 

Russell, Dr. Riley, 147. 

Russia, conversion of family, 50; home 
saved from fire in, 215. 

Russian days, in early, 50. 

Sabbath, burning bricks on, 272. 

ae keepers, Suboddhi’s search for, 
29. 

Salago, prayer answered, 294. 

Samoa, George Turner on, 266. 

Samoans baffled, 265. 

Samson, field saved from storm, 277. 

Sao Si Fu, story of, 117. 

Saved for future service, 240. 

Scudder, Mrs., in tiger’s lair, 185. 

Sea, answers from, 222. 

Sea captain remembers books bought 
of colporteur, 129. 

Seas mountain high, 229. 

Serpent, wrestling with a, 245; woman 
bitten by, 253. 

Set free as church prays, 178. 

Seventh-day Adventist in Eastern Eu- 
rope, flogged, 95. 

Shantung, drouth in, 94. 

Shepard, Reid, protected by Bolivian 
soldiers, 197. 

Shepstone, William, 91. 

Ship righted by angels, 23. 

Shirts, change of, saves a life, 306. 

Siao’tje, Miss Tsire, 141. 

Siberia, experiences in, 143. 

Sick, Wu Tha Tha’s gift in praying for, 
291. 

Sickness result of idol worship, 290. 

Siffonello, Chief, 40. 

Silas, 305. 

Singh, Sundar, helped by angels, 53; 
view of miracles, 58; delivered from 
death pit, 62. 

“* Six-faced,’”’ Indian girl, prayer an- 
swered, 300. 

Skinner, H. A., and lost bullocks, 102. 

Slave trader and extra canoemen, 196. 

Smith, Mr., and Big Nambus, 267. 

Snape, Mother, 48. 

Soldier’s eyes held, 258. 

Solomon Islands, spiritism in, 248. 

Solusi’s kraal, 47. 


INDEX 


Somo-Somo, Fiji, missionaries landed 
at, 76. 

South Africa, 
man in, 36. 

Spangenberg, 231. 

Sveech of heathen chief, 169. 

Spies, F. W., 50, 161. 

Spies, Mrs. F. W., and the captain, 129. 

Spiritism in the Solomon Islands, 243 

Stahl, F. A., stoned by Indians, 55; the 
extra canoemen, 196; in the Amazon 
wilds, 205; and the sick baby, 289. 

setbede: A. G., and the mission launch, 

Stewart, A. D., 45, 73, 186. 300, 305. 

Storm could not hinder, 27. 

Suboddhi Choudhry seeking light, 128. 

Suicide plan frustrated, 199. 

Sumatra, healing of sick on, 294. 

Summons to the chief, 35. 

Susquehanna, legends of, 233. 

Tagudin, P. I., drouth in, 284. 

Tahiti, revival on, 167. 

‘““Take the other road,” 50. 

Tamatoa, Chief, 167. 

Tanna, 74; John G. Paton facing death 
on, 88. 

Tasmania, experience of colporteur in, 
“198. 

Taylor, J. Hudson, storm could not hin- 
der, 27. 

Taylor, Mrs., 295. 

Tee Peh, challenge to God, 178. 

Telugu farmer’s rice field protected in 
storm, 277. 

Tempest and meteorite, 91. 

Text strangely given, 179. 

Thakur Dass, deliverance of, 165. 

Their mother’s Bible, 204. 

Their new-found Jesus, 127. 

“Then ask Him to do it,’’ 291. 

** Thirst country,’ succored in, 104. 

Thomas, G. S., and transport wagon, 25. 

Tidal wave, mission saved from, 313. 

Tiger-child, the, 307. 

Tiger, Naw Paw-Gay and the, 306. 

Tigers, Mrs. Scudder protected from, 
185. 

Ea paid by dying woman in India, 

75. 

Tithe paying, 272, 283, 285. 

Tithe, reckoning the, 274. 

Tobacco smoke hiding light of heaven, 
dream of, 138. 

Toppenberg, V. E., 292. 

Tornblad, Dr. Ollie, 
woman, 134. 

Traditions among Karens, 178. 

Traditions of Miaos, of creation and the 
flood, 219. 

Transport wagon, in peril by, 25. 

‘““Traveler’s hymn,’’ 226. 

Trust in God the missionary’s defense, 
262 


conversion of business 


and Buddhist 


Truth, Bengal farmer’s search for, 145. 

Tsang, Miss, a Buddhist, conversion of, 
141. 

Tschoog, Chief, message in dreams, 233. 

Tsetse fly belt, protected in traveling 
through, 104. 

Turkey, fury restrained in, 72. 


319 


Turks hunting an Armenian girl, 257. 
Ukrainian farmer’s dream, 148. 
““Uncle Buntsong ”’ attends chapel, 186. 
Unseen power, held by, 82. 

Unto their desired haven, 29. 

ae ee Miss, experience in Shantung, 

Volcanic fires, amidst, 279. 

Voleano summit drops into sea, 313. 

Vaudois hid by midst, 90. 

Vision of Klee Bow bishop, 151. 

Visions, three, of woman on Solomon 
Islands, 244. 

Voice, in wilds of New Guinea, 33; of 
assurance, 40; Greeks led by, 42; from 
above, 43; to her heart, 48; the chal- 
lenging, 49. 

Waiting for gospel light, 140. 

Wall of ice, breaking of, 17. 

Wall that fell down, 158. 

War party dismayed, 263. 

Warneck, Joh., 12, 133, 294. 

Warned to escape, 46. 

Washington, George, escape from death, 
240. 

Waters stayed, 312. 

Watt, Stuart, deliverances of, 91, 92; 
delivered by rain, 92; in East Africa 
without water, 99; deliverance from 
Masai, 101; caravan saved by a 
friendly warning, 193. 

Watt, Mrs. Stuart, experience in East 
Africa, 154. 

Way prepared, 133. 

Weiser, Conrad, 232. 

Well on New Hebrides, 110. 

Well, Sundar Singh delivered from, 62. 

Westphal, F. H., story of harvest 
stolen, 116. 

White ants, 299. 

““ Why did we not do it? ”’ 69. 

Widow and priest, 79. 

Williams, John, 167; made peace on 
Mangaia Island, 217. 

Wilson, Captain, escape from prison, 
183. 


218. 
Witchcraft, warned against, 244. 
Withered arm restored, 297. 

Witness for God in byways, 290. 
Wives of missionaries, waiting for their 
husbands to return from trips, 229. 

Wolves felt presence, 185. 

Wolves, Pastor Hsi delivered from, 186. 

Women, four young, in court for sell- 
ing literature, 181. 

Word, led to, by night, 38. 

Wouter and the deer, 235. 

Wyandotte Indians, introduction of 
gospel to, 34. 

‘““You are the very one,’’ 145. 

“You haven’t prayed,’”’ 228. 

‘* Your God is great,’ 292. 

Yuah (Jehovah), test of, by Karens, 
178 


78. 

Zachary, finds Ukrainian 
from dream, 148. 

Zapotecan Indian’s trust, 78. 

Zinzendorf, Count, work for Indians, 
281. 


adverse, a ministering angel, 


interested 





reals 


a" ily oh 
at 





TO 
1 1012 01234 0362 


Date. ,.Due 


f 


| ff 
Pe 
i \\ 
La 
GO 
E 
} 


Ole ane 
er 





‘ 7 . } i 
i 

- f ) 
| } f 
: 
F } i i | 
} ! i ! t 
i 


| “i \ 4 
i | 
| See | ! 

| | 





F ; by ne 
Mi } a BS) ih 
{ 


NUN 


ANY 





Se iz) 
ROG 


ers We 
ws , 


*Neptast las. 
fy aed i 


a 


ieee, 
; 
Che ay) 
NOL A 


ea 
F heat te} 


LRT RT IN 0) 
A gael fy ee as 
ArT hott 


a 
piv 


3 
iS¥) 
oa 
~ ss 


ie 


ie 


Edo erat, 
tah Seed Nese 
Ab yet Als watt 
sid sa gt 


A 4s Ay 
ACI MRL 
ge 


thE ‘' 


Yi 3 


SS 





